[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:04] The special meeting. And we need to do a roll call. This is a special meeting for the Manaville Cemetery. And a non-profits today is Thursday, October 24th at 5 o'clock PM. Manaville City Hall. Can we get a roll call? Let's do a pledge of allegiance. I'm going to leave the pledge.
[0:25] Do a moment of silence, please.
[0:47] So I'm liking all these red ties up here tonight. Looks very nice.
[0:50] You look nice. Over here. These two fashion, please.
[0:57] Game on.
[1:00] Okay, so the first up will be the roll call. Oh, roll call. I'm sorry. Jason Zuckerman.
[1:07] Here. Cynthia Strong Thompson. Here. Joe McGuire. Here. Kevin Vogel's hands. Here. Scott Dixon.
[1:16] Okay, first up, we'll be the Manaville Cemetery.
[1:21] So on the cemetery, do you have a list of things that you wanted to?
[1:30] I'm sorry, part of it was in, I see Kevin's focus elsewhere right now, is to kind of
[1:35] get an update on, you'd send an email back and forth of what was going on in the cemetery.
[1:41] talk a little about the mausoleum company what's going on there as well as do we
[1:46] have an ETA timeline. The mausoleum company is not a city employee nor a city
[1:52] contractor so we don't control the contractor whenever they decide to come
[1:57] and do the work is when they come and do the work. Okay but my understanding was
[2:01] is they have to sell a certain number of mausoleums is that part of the issue?
[2:06] Not that I'm aware of we're waiting on they actually wanted the they submitted
[2:09] for a pre-building permit. We're waiting on drawings, drainage plans back from them.
[2:14] Okay.
[2:14] So they're in a process of doing it, but we don't really control it, we don't control it.
[2:18] Yeah, they got approval for Historic Disarray Commission last night.
[2:23] There's a good amount of outstanding items that they need. We had a meeting with them and
[2:29] their design team to tell them what they need, done it several times. So it's in the balls
[2:34] in their court.
[2:34] Excuse you when you say drawings is that coming from them. Yeah, okay, so we have any head
[2:40] We don't have the drawings yet. I don't have everything I need to be able to issue a permit. They're not complete
[2:45] Okay, how long is this process been going a year just a year the mazaleyum
[2:52] No, it's been you're talking about a process. I'm thinking our process. Yeah, we've been in discussions with them for a year
[2:58] Okay, so it's not like they've been sitting on it for a year or a year and a half. Okay
[3:02] I think they started selling them last year.
[3:06] I think they've been for sale for about a year, a year and a half.
[3:09] But it would be nice to get a timeline from them, if somebody could kind of get what is.
[3:18] Yeah, I think as soon as, according to them, as soon as they were ready to build.
[3:24] Last summer is when we met with them, as soon as they were ready to build, they would submit drawings.
[3:29] And then they would be ready to build in two weeks.
[3:32] We like yeah, I don't think you can go through the process in two weeks and here's all the things you're gonna need and this was 18 months ago
[3:39] Okay, so about
[3:41] Four months ago maybe five months ago. They submitted like the drawings and we're like hey
[3:45] You're still missing everything we actually to bring and that's when Cara said you're probably gonna have to go to a historic commission
[3:51] So but we did that last night. Yeah, they did that last night
[3:55] But they're outstanding for plan review plan or approval
[4:00] commercial drainage review, flood zone review, yeah, so they've got, they've got
[4:05] things to do. It really, yeah, so who can get a timeline from them? Because I know,
[4:11] I know that they have been selling crypts and that their plan is when they're
[4:17] selling them, if you need it before they've built it, you got to get buried
[4:22] temporarily someplace, even though you paid for. So I know they've been selling them
[4:27] like I bought one a year ago and there were a bunch of them sold at that point.
[4:35] So the concern is if people have paid for them, like me, and need them at some point,
[4:45] the families have to deal with a temporary burial and then moving and stuff like that.
[4:49] So it's more than just a construction project, I think at this point it's kind of what's going
[4:54] on with it.
[4:55] What is it going to start?
[4:57] Yeah, I mean, I understand that from me all is perspective, but from my perspective, it is just, I mean, I don't know, I don't know, I have no contact with whoever, who, who, who could get in touch with them?
[5:09] Do they have a representative?
[5:11] Yeah, I get it in an email.
[5:12] I mean, don't we give them business? Aren't we paying them to do this? Like, don't they need to respond to us?
[5:19] I think Doug would be the one that has all their,
[5:24] yeah.
[5:24] We don't have the answers now, but I would like, you know, maybe we have a month before the next council meeting if we if we could tag somebody with getting an update and a timeline from them because there are a lot of mandible residents that are buying in there and it could be problematic if they're not starting soon.
[5:44] Yeah, sure. I could send an email.
[5:49] especially for selling them. I mean if we're to then we should probably halt selling them if we can't provide the service.
[5:55] I mean I think that's we don't sell. I think they're selling those and they should halt selling the plots that they if they aren't going to provide.
[6:05] Like we can't what Jason's saying like if somebody if they're buying a plot and somebody dies and they don't have the place to put them, that's a problem.
[6:14] So, as I understand it, it's city-mandable property, and we entered into a C.E.A. with them of some sort, which allows them to build this.
[6:25] They fund the construction of it by selling the crypts, and they construct the mausoleum.
[6:30] So, I get, they are, it's a design-build, cell-build.
[6:36] We give them the permission to go build it.
[6:38] but we'll want to investigate and find out what percentage of the
[6:46] crypts are sold and that way we can see this plan's working. I would think that they have to keep
[6:52] selling to get there. I did hear that but I don't know if it'd be wise for us to cancel the sales.
[6:59] I think they're trying to get enough. I've never even got to notice about buying one. I mean,
[7:04] I might be interested in buying if I have any money left this year.
[7:07] Just let you know, I was left off the list just saying why don't we get an update who can get the update?
[7:15] Is that you're going to be able to do that?
[7:17] I can email the person that's been sending us the drawings and see what percentage we're at.
[7:20] They should have some kind of information.
[7:22] Yeah, just just kind of so that they understand that we're asking.
[7:24] And I guess one of the other things we talked about that the resurfacing is on tap for January when we were trying to move it up
[7:33] for the before November, so you can get at least,
[7:37] was trying to do a milling overlay.
[7:39] The newer road, I don't believe, is gonna be that simple,
[7:42] but the older road is, we just got some course back
[7:45] and we met this week, so we have about two inches
[7:48] of asphalt there, we're gonna probably mill one inch
[7:50] and put back an inch and a half that,
[7:52] I'm trying to have done before November,
[7:53] I'm just waiting on a contractor to commit.
[7:56] And the premise behind that is for elderly people
[8:00] that go to visit the cemetery, they can't use their walk,
[8:02] Is that one of the concerns or what's the concern about the road?
[8:07] It's just it's ready for a mill and overlay and it would just be the main road that goes through all would be all the one the old one by the gazebo
[8:14] Yeah, I'm calling out the old one the one by the gazebo the one that has some concrete and concrete curve attached to it
[8:19] I feel like there's a lot going on there that we can do better and never have to touch it again
[8:24] So that might become more of a full reconstruction instead of a mill and overlay
[8:28] So if I can get one of the two and then we're going to come up with a design plan for that bigger road
[8:32] But regardless all are on tap to be done with this budget and this roadway and drainage maintenance
[8:39] Well, and that's going to also fix that divot then where it goes back out to the main road
[8:43] Because I think it was the older road that I was having to creep around a pretty big pot hole where it connected
[8:48] Yeah, that's spot where we're looking at just doing a full-depth patch and then
[8:51] Overlay, okay, we're just cautious to dig anywhere
[8:54] there.
[8:56] You never know. If I can stay within, if I don't have to dig outside the original
[9:01] footprint, I'm going to understand that. But the old road seems to be easier, which
[9:06] I thought would be more complicated. And then the newer road is actually has about four
[9:12] foot of concrete with a concrete curb. And then asphalt is kind of just overlaid on top
[9:16] of it, breaking up. And it's not a good condition. I don't know why we would have done that, but
[9:21] But I think we can do that.
[9:23] We can make it better.
[9:23] And so I'm just having the drainage function
[9:25] better in that area too.
[9:26] Right.
[9:26] So I think we're just going down a list.
[9:28] But I do have one thing that when I was on parks,
[9:32] this is five years ago, I know you all needs,
[9:35] there was a pile of soil or sand outside the entrance,
[9:40] not on Montgomery the other street.
[9:42] But we can never get it moved.
[9:44] I think it's supposed to be inside the fence
[9:46] to use, is that the Apollo sand that's used for the burials?
[9:54] They'll think they dress up the graves with the sand.
[9:56] Is that- Is that- Is it- Is it all request us, they request us-
[9:59] Okay, that's dark.
[10:00] Can we get that mood?
[10:01] Because we wanted that gone six years ago when Nancy Clark was on Parks and we could never get-
[10:07] I gotta- I gotta- I gotta- You gotta explain where you're talking about, again.
[10:11] So it's on there's-
[10:16] Yeah, you look up- There's some bamboo I think up there and then there's a pile of
[10:20] Mud that's been there for and I could have sworn I saw it when I went with Tracy
[10:25] We toured everything and I at the corner my eye. I was like oh my god that pulse still there
[10:30] So I'll get with you. I'll show you. Let's move that inside. I'll look at it
[10:34] I've never I've never been next to do anything with it
[10:36] So I haven't asked you but I think maybe we should try to get that move
[10:41] It looks like something's not not being complete and then as far as um
[10:45] The two other things I want to go over the trees. I talked about maybe we could plant
[10:49] I don't want some trees in there because there's no shade and I just don't see how anyone would want to go in there in the 105 degree heat of the summer so I know we'd have to look at the plotting to see where there's some room.
[11:02] Is that correct?
[11:03] Along that maybe that after you do that road, we could put some trees along their path and make it maybe more presentable.
[11:11] I'm going to be honest, I got a number to the Cemetery Board Commission to determine what we should and shouldn't do.
[11:18] I never talked to any, I just, I talked to a few, just prepping for this meeting throughout the week.
[11:23] I've talked to a few cemetery people and just how do they handle the lighted crypts and how do they handle like everybody's unique city in New Orleans.
[11:31] It's kind of more like us, they sell the plot, but they just maintain the grounds and then, but anyway, I think I'm getting a,
[11:39] So I want to get a survey and a topo done just to kind of understand where all the actual
[11:44] crypts are laid out because the only thing we're using is Chris Lang's memory and a map.
[11:49] And it's not a new map.
[11:51] I'm sitting at the map.
[11:52] Yeah.
[11:53] It's not that great.
[11:57] If it was great, I wouldn't have had a guy dig the wrong, marked, man, my half.
[12:01] I wouldn't have had a guy mark the wrong grave for the company to dig the grave for the
[12:05] person being buried that day.
[12:06] I believe we can get a new survey with elevations that can help with the term and
[12:11] where drainage should go or how I can creatively route drainage without digging holes
[12:16] and disturbing crypts.
[12:18] I think that's the way to go.
[12:19] And then we could maybe see where we could put some crate murals or oak trees.
[12:24] You know, when you go to the Cemetery in New Orleans at Lake Lawn, they have beautiful
[12:30] trees and it's it's serene. I don't find the cemetery to be aesthetically pleasing in the heat. I just
[12:38] think we could do more. That's just my opinion. I did come from parks and parkways and we talked
[12:43] about a landscape plan eight years ago before Kara was the chair was the department head when
[12:50] Louisette was on but we could never really get full support from the city. So I just think it's something
[12:55] and it's been hanging around for eight years
[12:57] and we haven't been pushing it.
[13:00] So I mean, I'd like to look at that.
[13:01] And then the last thing was, you mentioned Tracy,
[13:04] but Tracy, if you want to speak,
[13:05] you're going to have to come up to this podium.
[13:10] You talked about the grass cutters are cutting grass
[13:14] and running over the actual burial spots.
[13:19] And that's-
[13:19] Of course, in the city, they have a chloro that
[13:21] But there should be no rhodomores used in the old section of the cemetery, just so they
[13:28] can hear you on face of the meeting.
[13:30] Oh, you're sorry, so no rhodomores.
[13:34] I wanted to just run that by, can we do anything about that?
[13:37] We spoke to RCI, we've been through three managers now, it's just, unfortunately, until her coming
[13:46] to the last meeting, RCI has been on contract for two years, this is the first time, like
[13:50] I've heard about them doing it for the two years, but we do have a third new manager.
[13:54] He said, as of that meeting, I sent an email.
[13:57] I think I might have copied someone here just to show that we're letting them know that
[14:02] they can only use tremors and they want to use the walk, they got to stand behind that they
[14:07] can use in the larger, like around the property and stuff, but as far as around the grave sites,
[14:12] they need to use tremors.
[14:13] Yeah, but they're actually going over the graves with those rotumowers.
[14:16] So that's what we want to prevent.
[14:18] And causing ruts if it's wet they go in with them and there's ruts and then that holds water and it doesn't drain
[14:25] Well, and that's been a problem for since the since for for four years since I came on the council and we met with the mayor in
[14:34] 2020 and I know that this is what the third company that we've gone through and we were still I don't know if it's the third company
[14:43] I know that the company that was there in 2020, that that company is no longer there, and that you all have been through at least two other companies, right?
[14:52] And RCI was doing a great job up until they are recently.
[14:56] For the most part?
[14:57] Yeah, okay.
[14:58] There was no, there was no...
[15:00] Like he had no, he wasn't, he wasn't resistant. I think my biggest issue with RCI or any company is we're paying them $52,000 a year, and we could pay a caretaker. And I thought that's what this meeting was for. And I expected clay to be here also because I know that he's against the caretaker. I know, but I think we discussed that. I don't think there's an, I don't think there's a, well, y'all discussed it, not with me. No, no, I think we, it was in budget when you brought it up. And it was not met with
[15:30] positivity because of the costs associated with the 52 and the benefits.
[15:35] So they felt like it still should be, I mean, you're talking to the public works director.
[15:42] We contract that-
[15:43] But there's other things that we can't share.
[15:45] You have to let me finish.
[15:46] We contract out a lot of grass cutting and edging in the city because we can't keep up with it and we can't maintain it.
[15:55] And so we pay, sometimes you have to pay money to get things done.
[15:59] So I think the issue here might be the fact that let the public works director work with the directors at RCI.
[16:07] RCI does a lot of work for the city.
[16:10] We can't find, let me finish, you can't find a lot of companies that can do all these things.
[16:15] So I think instead of running them off, we just need to fine tune them.
[16:19] And I've met with RCI with some of our landscape projects just recently.
[16:24] And so look, this is not the way we want it done.
[16:25] So we need to work with these people. Maybe that's the solution.
[16:28] But I think y'all are misunderstanding it has nothing to do with just grass that I sent Keith pictures yesterday or day before yesterday
[16:35] I was out there. There was a brick mason fixing a coping on a grave and they were out there with shovels digging around it
[16:41] Because the grass builds up and then the cement falls off. There's that kind of stuff
[16:45] There's drainage that I walked you through and show you the drainage there is
[16:51] Stuff with the I got but mr. Keith just said he's gonna get a
[16:55] He's going to get on the survey.
[16:57] Well, Tracy, I think you've got to look at part of this meeting is to answer your concerns, except that we brought in the time to do this.
[17:10] We're trying to answer a lot of things.
[17:12] The one thing that cannot happen is a caretaker.
[17:14] That's something from the 1950s.
[17:16] When you go over to across Lake Lake Lawn, they have a full funeral home and
[17:21] everything else there to justify the caretakers. We're trying to do the best we can with, and I told
[17:27] you the other day, when you do see something like somebody sitting on a grave, real quick, send a
[17:33] picture, pictures worse, a thousand work, but we need to work with what we've got and we're trying
[17:37] to answer some of the other things, spruce it up, clean it up drainage, doing the topography is
[17:43] going to possibly help us with all of that. I get that. And so we're trying to find ways to
[17:48] answer it, but we can't go stick somebody over there.
[17:51] It's not going to happen.
[17:52] But public works is not going to answer all of the questions.
[17:55] It's not just about grass cutting.
[17:58] It's not just about draining.
[17:59] But again, we're here to talk.
[18:00] That's why we planned this meeting.
[18:01] It's a special meeting.
[18:02] Let's let.
[18:03] We want to.
[18:04] We need a list of everything that you want us to address.
[18:07] And I think I've gone down the list of the major things,
[18:11] but if there's more that we need to address,
[18:14] then you need to.
[18:15] This is your chance to let us know what else.
[18:17] And then we'll work with Keith to try to come up with a way to fix it.
[18:21] We can't continue not to be able to get along and figure this thing out.
[18:26] It's just not going to be productive.
[18:27] I know, but I've asked for like 15 years.
[18:29] I know, but I just got on the council three months ago.
[18:32] Clay knew about it when he was on the council.
[18:35] I mean, this is not something new for Clay.
[18:37] I understand that, but that's in the past.
[18:39] We're in the future now.
[18:39] Let's try and work together.
[18:41] I think when's the last time we had a special meeting on the cemetery?
[18:46] Because y'all are the first ones to ever take the interest.
[18:48] I know, but I'm letting you know that this is that kind of council.
[18:51] Okay, this is a new council and we all work together.
[18:53] So I'm just trying to let you know that we're going to try and help you.
[18:55] So we'll public works do things like like the pictures I sent you yesterday.
[19:00] You can see the grass growing all the way up to the the copen and then grass growing over the copen.
[19:06] Will y'all scrape that grass?
[19:07] No, ma'am.
[19:08] Why?
[19:08] Because it's all private property.
[19:09] No, no, it's not on the grave.
[19:11] Let me let me let me address your concern about the lapidated
[19:15] copings and graves and all of that is individually owned graves all of that is individually owned sites if
[19:23] Someone does not want to take care of their property. I'm sure there's a process
[19:27] I'm looking at Elizabeth that we're gonna have to go through. It's not the great from talking about it's in between the street and the in the grave
[19:32] The dirt is bounded up and the growing over on top and you also have copings that are sticking
[19:38] in way above the gray of them and our tripping hazard
[19:41] that are two feet above ground
[19:42] and another section of it has actually grown over.
[19:45] Like, once that are being knocked over by the lawn mowers,
[19:48] I sent you those pictures yesterday,
[19:50] that's not people that own the crazy-
[19:52] Okay, but once again, it's Tracy,
[19:54] Hold on, we're still going back to these lawn mowers.
[19:58] It sounds like we need to work with RCI to get that fix.
[20:02] Once that's corrected, maybe this other things will fall off
[20:05] and that's I'm saying,
[20:06] It doesn't sound like you're you're not allowing us to try to help you you're going to have to work with Keith
[20:12] That's going to only be the solution and I and Cynthia and even
[20:17] Jill we've always volunteered that we will try our best to assist you to make this go away. That's all we can do
[20:23] I just want to make sure that they're going to be able to clean the dirt in between the grave
[20:27] So the drain is going to you know stuff like that
[20:29] Are you going to send somebody out there to physically work in the cemetery?
[20:33] We are not going to dig anywhere in the cemetery that is not adjacent to a road or a sidewalk.
[20:39] So in between graves where the...
[20:40] I am not digging in between graves.
[20:41] Okay, well the grass grows up and the dirt grows up and it doesn't drain.
[20:45] That's fine, but you're asking me to maintain someone's property.
[20:48] It's not their property.
[20:50] The grave site where the coping is is absolutely their property.
[20:53] It's not. It's in between the graves where the...
[20:56] So who installed the coping the city?
[20:58] No.
[20:59] No, the grave owner.
[21:01] So, if that's where I was getting at, like different cemeteries handle the belighted property,
[21:08] if you want to call it, belighted graves, like people that don't want to come and maintain
[21:11] their stuff, different cemeteries handle that differently.
[21:15] The only one that I can get an answer from are two privately owned cemeteries, which were
[21:19] Metery, Lake Lawn and Metery, and then you had the St. Bernard Cemetery, I knew the guy
[21:27] Allen, the director there.
[21:28] And then the city obviously is a whole different animal because they don't touch anything unless it becomes a health and safety hazard.
[21:35] Well, it's in between copings, where they cut the grass and the grass falls there and it turns into dirt and it piles up and it doesn't let the drainage flow.
[21:45] I will be able to tell you how the property drains once I have an actual survey.
[21:49] Will you go out there with me or call me to go out there?
[21:52] I'm not surveying it, but I'll call you and go out there with you once we have a plan.
[21:55] Okay, and then I'll volunteer to go with you so that we can all get this together and we'll get sent to you
[22:00] Yeah, I'll absolutely be there, but I'm trying to I think I know you have been met with little success in the past
[22:07] But we we actually pulled you in today to have this meeting. Okay, so let's all try to work together and is there
[22:15] One more thing that you want to add to this list like I have y'all addressed the urination that's going on
[22:20] So I asked the urination inside the home.
[22:23] And then there was like chicken, there was maggots in it,
[22:26] people leaving food.
[22:27] Last night, Karen can tell you that one of the lady,
[22:32] what was her name, Karen?
[22:34] Karen from the historic thing wants
[22:36] them to put awnings over the new mausoleum.
[22:39] So it's not so hot.
[22:41] She loves the old mausoleum.
[22:42] And I tried to explain to them that people are urinating.
[22:45] They're leaving food.
[22:46] That's cool.
[22:46] But on the urination, we talked about this
[22:48] at that meeting during the budget.
[22:51] I suggested and you suggested, we just never finalize it.
[22:54] Why don't we just have the police lock the cemetery?
[22:58] So I talked to the police chief about that.
[23:00] They really can't do that on the road because it is a three road.
[23:05] However, sad that he's not here, but maybe talking to them
[23:11] about doing evening controls or things like that to get out.
[23:15] There is an issue with that.
[23:17] Did the inside of the mausoleum get pressure washed?
[23:20] I know you press washed outside.
[23:21] Can we set a schedule maybe for once a quarter to go if there is a lot of urination to go
[23:28] out and check?
[23:28] We actually have a few things we're going to do to the mausoleum.
[23:31] Some of the awnings can use a fresh coat of paint and some of the soft fits and then pressure
[23:36] wash and just we've got some ideas to just kind of help freshen up the, freshen up the
[23:42] Yeah, the vagrancy issue is another issue, and that may need to be dressed by another ordinance.
[23:48] They used to close the gate from Dostodon.
[23:50] Yeah, but that's, I don't know how much that's going to really help.
[23:53] Yeah, the vagrancy will go right over it, and then the police car can't get there.
[23:56] Wait, what was that last thing you just said?
[23:58] I said they used to have the gates closed from Dostodon all the time.
[24:02] If that would entail locking it, I think they said it wasn't going to be possible to lock it.
[24:06] I heard it just say that, yeah.
[24:08] It's a through road, so maybe...
[24:11] is it a public street? Yeah, it's city property but I don't it's not that never
[24:17] name it's not a street. I don't know. I'm not going to speak for the chief, but that was just
[24:24] because I did ask him that because the neighborhoods they you lock at Duskendon. It's unset and he said
[24:32] even that's difficult because they have to go in and make sure everybody's out and things like that
[24:37] That it's easier just to get a patrol over there just to
[24:42] Move people, but if you got to unlock the gates to get your car in there it becomes a problem
[24:46] So that I think that's kind of the direction is going. I don't like putting words in his mouth
[24:50] But best my recollection of that conversation, but once again, we're trying to address it there
[24:55] I think what we need to do and Jill we may want to look at that as some ordinance on valerancy
[25:01] You know just where we got teeth to make people move
[25:08] Do we? What is it?
[25:13] It is section 614 for conduct in the cemetery trespassing and loitering
[25:19] on grounds are not permitted. Perfect. What was that again, trespassing?
[25:25] And do we have cameras out there? No. Individuals shall not be permitted on cemetery grounds
[25:29] after dark or when the gates have been closed and then loitering. Individuals shall not be
[25:34] permitted to loiter on cemetery grounds. Any person found loitering in the cemetery will
[25:38] we consider a trust passer.
[25:40] So in that, it already says that you can close,
[25:43] it's in the ordinance that they can close the gates.
[25:45] Yeah, you actually have hours of operation,
[25:48] section six, dash 13.
[25:50] Cemetery is open to the public from sunrise
[25:52] to sunset.
[25:53] Any person found in the cemetery outside these hours
[25:55] will be considered trust passing.
[25:56] It doesn't mean that you have to close it
[25:57] if it suns down.
[25:59] Yeah, but I mean, you could close it
[26:01] because technically no one's supposed to be there.
[26:04] Well, but one of the things we might want
[26:05] Look at security cameras. Yeah, I've getting some prices on security system
[26:12] More like my ex-father mall did where he had big signs saying you're being video
[26:17] I know but who's gonna monitor the
[26:23] Well, let's just let's just take a look and see if that's the option if it's against a law to be in there
[26:28] The police should be monitoring it. I mean
[26:40] No, but if we if we did have cameras though
[26:43] could record and if there was an incident out there, I think if anything, it's a deterrent.
[26:48] I actually, I guess Andrew's watching the IT director. He said he actually has fiber ran to
[26:53] one of the polls. He's just waiting on click code to get power there and he does plan on putting
[26:57] the camera. Okay, so we've got a security camera. He said the box is already mounted, so you should be
[27:02] honest. Well, and that's what deterrents sometimes is half the battle. So I gather the please don't want
[27:09] have to lock the gate? Is that correct? Okay, so we're not going to close it. And why? And why is that other than it's?
[27:20] Okay.
[27:24] Yeah, that was the biggest thing is the police car could not get in if they need to.
[27:35] Okay, and then I think I remember something I thought maybe perhaps we should put a hose out there that could reach the whole
[27:46] Mausoleum we talked about because if I was going out there to see my mother and someone
[27:50] had urinated I would have taken the time to clean I'd hose the whole thing. So maybe we should
[27:55] put a hose out there and make it where possible. I think it's too short maybe we'll check it.
[28:02] Use it for the pressure water. Okay. It hooks a regular hose too. But if it could fit make sure
[28:06] it's somewhat good. It might be on the meter box. I'll have to say. Let's just check. But that could
[28:12] be something. Where you go out there and you see something, you could just hose it.
[28:15] I know you would do that. Yeah. But is there anything else? That's pretty much it, isn't
[28:21] it? Well, Mr. Chair, I do have one question. Didn't we allocate like $75,000 during the
[28:27] budget for some study or something in the cemetery? Are we going to do anything with that money?
[28:31] That is what that was for. That was to address the new property we purchased to do some initial
[28:39] design, some code research, some regulatory research on expanding the cemetery, didn't have
[28:44] anything to do with the current.
[28:47] We have solicited two.
[28:51] One I think I believe Karris talked about maybe was one, if not it was Vaughn, and then
[28:56] Colin Associates, just to kind of start seeing who would be the right fit for that consultant
[29:03] because we really don't know.
[29:04] Right.
[29:05] And this is not about a caretaker, but what about, I know the city appropriates so much money each year to take care of the cemetery and graves that are the people have died off and stuff like that.
[29:17] Well, the biggest problem is this private property.
[29:20] Each grave is private property.
[29:24] So Keith knows we've already fixed maybe ten graves out there that have collapsed in that are from the 1800s or whatever.
[29:32] However, there's nobody around, no private people.
[29:35] So the city appropriates so much money each year, the council asked for it or whatever,
[29:40] and it goes through that prudome grave is falling in.
[29:44] Somebody needs to look at that.
[29:46] I don't know if that's hiring that company from New Orleans Cemetery that came out and
[29:51] fixed the other graves.
[29:52] But-
[29:52] Yeah, it does got like I think one or two companies that it gets prices from-
[29:55] Yeah, but they have one guy that is or one lady that's out there all the time.
[30:00] That does repair work and she's done, they have done a lot of, like I said, about 10 graves. I think if we can demon public health and safety, I don't think legal will ever have a problem with us addressing the public public health and safety. Right. Not making it new, but just addressing. Okay, so who wants, because we have to close your meeting. I think we covered everything. We got to hit another meeting. We're trying to get everybody in. Who wants to make that phone call over to maybe get an estimate of what it cost to fix? Is that something we would do? Yeah. Yeah. Let's just get it.
[30:29] estimate and then maybe we'll have to figure out a way to find it okay and maybe getting an update like
[30:34] maybe we can set a timeline where we come back and and and see okay who's looking into right
[30:41] progress who's looking into the cameras who's looking into I believe I don't know if those are
[30:47] I know exactly what we're talking about I believe they even did a if was that with anyway was that
[30:55] like on a TV where they restored the graves and they did like a whole TV show on it was like a
[31:00] grant and I know it's been done multiple times. How do we get that going again? It's all the city
[31:06] Doug or who. So who do we talk so do we talk to Doug about that or who would talk to Doug because
[31:12] then it was not here. Okay we'll talk with Doug. Okay so I think I think we solved everything tonight
[31:20] and we're going to we're going to come follow it and then we'll do another special meeting
[31:24] and make sure we get in some place, okay?
[31:26] Thank you all for your time.
[31:27] Okay, no problem, thank you.
[31:28] And I hope you feel better back there in the back, okay?
[31:31] Okay, so the next meeting was on the donations?
[31:36] Yes.
[31:37] To nonprofits from the city of Manaville.
[31:39] And I think we were gonna,
[31:41] I think, did you want to go first, Jill?
[31:43] Yeah, I'll just kind of start it off.
[31:46] So to catch everybody up, when we were discussing the budget,
[31:53] there's a line item that says social services.
[31:57] There's also a line item in the budget or the past budget.
[32:00] I believe we took it out this year.
[32:02] There's also a line item in the budget for Youth Services Bureau.
[32:07] The social services, I believe, was a line item of 32,000
[32:12] and the Youth Services Bureau was 10,000.
[32:15] So when we asked what social services was,
[32:19] I believe Cynthia asked the question, what is social services?
[32:24] We were told that it was several different nonprofits.
[32:28] Well, okay, so that's what kind of started this discussion.
[32:34] Do other cities give to nonprofits?
[32:40] Do they have an application process?
[32:43] Do they rotate who they give the funds to?
[32:46] do, how do they select, who they give the funds to, do they have a limit on how much
[32:51] they give the funds, how much funding they give to one organization, what do the organizations
[32:57] provide to the city as far as financials and different things like that.
[33:02] So we started doing our homework, Cynthia did a good bit of homework and I called the City
[33:11] of Covington, the City of Covington's council clerk said that they do not give any to any
[33:23] non-profit that they don't have a process. At about 3.30 this afternoon, I got an email
[33:31] from the Children's Advocacy Center and he kind of broke down what they, and I believe
[33:38] believe they are, right, they are one of these nonprofits.
[33:43] And to me when I read the email, you services, I'm sorry, well them too, but the children's
[33:51] advocacy center, to me, that is a social service, that is accurate, an accurate description
[33:59] in the budget that makes sense to me.
[34:02] And I feel, you know, he broke it down, he sent me, I can send it to everybody, but he
[34:08] We can show how many citizens we serve, what they do, provides a counselor, forensic counselor,
[34:18] for any child inside city limits that has had something got awful happened to them.
[34:24] So it is a good organization and to me it meets the definition of a social service.
[34:30] You services bureau, I know that you want to recuse yourself from a lot of talk because
[34:35] as you are involved in this use of this is what I can talk about.
[34:38] But yeah, I do want to get your input on the Youth Services Bureau because it's my hunch
[34:44] that it falls in that same line as well that it's, both of these are kind of an extension
[34:52] of our court system and you've got the parish court.
[34:58] And so they are doing stuff that our citizens got forbid they have to go to court for any reason.
[35:05] and they go through them.
[35:07] So to me, that is a partnership
[35:08] and that meets the definition of a social service.
[35:14] With other nonprofits, what current,
[35:17] what nonprofits are we currently giving to?
[35:21] I know we're not currently giving to anybody,
[35:22] but in the past.
[35:27] So well, let me take that
[35:29] because that's kinda ended up in the budget meeting
[35:31] that we talked about that.
[35:32] That y'all were surprised to hear
[35:36] that the money was going out and the city council had never really heard the finances, heard how it's impacting the city, especially on a couple of the non-profits.
[35:47] And that's what started the conversation when I was up in Shreveport. It was a mixed bag. Shreveport gives a lot of money. We got information from them.
[35:56] They give $150,000 to nonprofits and they have a very detailed method of justifying how
[36:06] the money goes, similar to what Jill's talking about, that all these are offshoots of a
[36:13] lot of the police services, the youth services, you know, support systems there.
[36:22] slide del also gives money away they are more that they'll give $500 to the football league
[36:29] and they'll give $500 to the soccer team and they'll give $500 here and $500 there.
[36:35] That one seems to be more at the mayor's discretion that they're not really having any sort
[36:43] of method and so when Shreport Senate they have a very nice cooperative endeavor agreement
[36:49] and the resolutions of how they do it, because I will tell you as when you're looking at a non-profit,
[36:57] $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 can make a difference.
[36:59] $500 to $1,000 does not.
[37:02] So, the first question, I think, is, do we as a council feel like we're being good stewards
[37:09] of the money we bring in by making donations?
[37:13] and if so, I would recommend we look more of adopting what similar to what the City of
[37:19] Shreveport is doing. It's called a civic appropriation application and a cooperative endeavor
[37:26] agreement. And one of the things that the director of the CAC, Tim, or Tom?
[37:34] I believe it's Tom. I think it's Tom.
[37:37] When he and I were talking about this while back, one of the things I liked about it, he could
[37:43] name off the number of mandible citizens that have been supported by the CAC services.
[37:51] The youth service bureau would be able to provide that a little bit, but they do a lot
[37:58] of the things.
[37:58] They're part of the diversion program of trying to teach youth to make good decisions,
[38:04] and they've got counseling, they've got group workshops, they've got a lot.
[38:08] And this is youth that have gotten in Iraq and don't understand, you know, the responsibility
[38:16] of driving a 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 pound car down to youth skipping school every day.
[38:24] And so both of those are kind of providing services.
[38:27] You know, I can see where if we wanted to do this, if we targeted a couple of social services
[38:35] is like that. It is a benefit to the Mandible citizenry as well as a support system for our
[38:41] police department. But the way we've been doing it now, the fact that everybody was shocked,
[38:46] that the money was going out. I have a problem with that I would like to look at. If y'all had
[38:52] a chance to look at it. Yeah, sorry. I wanted to, I'm sorry, I wasn't done. Fuck you just finished.
[39:02] Yeah, I think number one, on the agenda or on the budget, I think it's important that we're transparent as much as possible.
[39:14] And if we say social services, then it needs to be those that qualify.
[39:21] Maybe we need to be very specific in writing something as to who can apply and
[39:28] and what we deem as a social service.
[39:31] That's number one.
[39:32] I personally feel that there's a difference between that and regular nonprofits.
[39:42] We have a bunch of regular nonprofits and my concern is that we have nonprofits inside city limits.
[39:51] We have nonprofits outside city limits all that have worthy causes.
[39:57] all that serve our community. How do we whittle away? Who gets what? How do we make it fair?
[40:05] How do we do a rotation? How do we make sure that we know where that money's going? How do we
[40:11] got for bid? Maybe there's a non-profit organization whose financials may look great, but maybe they
[40:20] get busted for something and we've given them money. How does that affect the city?
[40:26] So those are the questions that came up in the budget process that said, well let's take a look at this.
[40:34] So currently right now, and I don't want to pick on any nonprofits,
[40:38] but currently right now, how many of the nonprofits that we give money to would fall under the social services category?
[40:55] I mean, I think they've all fallen under that category.
[40:58] Now, whether or not you want to, you know, define that a little bit more narrowly.
[41:08] When you're talking about, like, do they serve the court system?
[41:12] Do they serve citizens that, is it for a...
[41:17] So there are some both the LLA and then in the state Constitution, there are guidelines for this. So this is article
[41:30] 7 section 14 of the Louisiana State Constitution. I've highlighted down here at the bottom that
[41:38] so it is legal. You need a cooperative and ever agreement.
[41:42] that it has to be for a public purpose.
[41:46] And then the LLA has some guidelines
[41:49] to help make sure that you're within the intention
[41:53] of that.
[41:56] And so this is a little more specific.
[42:03] The transfer comports with the governmental purpose
[42:05] for which the public entity has a legal authority.
[42:09] the transfer does not appear to be gratuitous,
[42:12] so there should be some exchange.
[42:14] In other words, when children's advocacy center or YSB,
[42:19] they usually give us a report that says,
[42:21] we've served this many kids in Mandaville.
[42:24] We, I think, hope house might even be able
[42:27] to put a dollar amount on every person that comes
[42:30] through our program, it costs this much money.
[42:33] And I believe they give reports.
[42:35] And then we can say this many people
[42:36] from the city of Mandaville,
[42:37] we've provided services to this many people in the city of the Manaville.
[42:41] It costs this much for every person who comes through our program.
[42:43] And so we're requesting this much money.
[42:46] So in like that's perfect example.
[42:49] To me, that's not us giving to a nonprofit.
[42:52] That is paying for the services that they provided our citizens.
[42:57] That's like in a way our bill, and it is important.
[43:00] It is important that our citizens have a forensic investigator in, you know,
[43:06] or forensic, I'm sorry, forensic psychiatrists or whoever interviews a child that's so important,
[43:12] it's a big service and that to me is us paying for those services. I want to hear everybody speak,
[43:19] but I'm just really a little concerned about giving to just a few nonprofits that might have a great
[43:30] mission, but they aren't inside city limits and we don't know really where their money goes
[43:36] and is there a presentation on this, and my big issue is this is taxpayer money, and
[43:45] if we are going to do nonprofits, then it needs to be listed clearly in Plain as
[43:49] Day as to who the nonprofits are, and they need to be listed in the budget, and I just
[43:54] feel like that's opening up a big can of worms.
[43:57] I don't know if we really want to spend all this time and energy, I think it would probably
[44:02] fall into the laps of council to then determine who, what nonprofits we are going to take on,
[44:10] how much they get, and I think that's just a big bag of worms.
[44:14] I would kind of like to whittle it down to the actual, I guess you could say nonprofits,
[44:23] but in my opinion, we are, we need to pay for those services because those, my, my suggestion
[44:30] in this matter is that we establish a process similar to street ports and application process.
[44:36] We start with a budget of zero, they apply, we draw up the cooperative endeavor agreement,
[44:43] it comes with a budget adjustment specifically for that, not for profit and
[44:47] young approve it or don't approve it.
[44:49] Yeah, and I think that's true too, because one of the things I like that street ports sent me
[44:54] is they make a resolution naming the nonprofits and how much money went
[45:00] to each. So it's public record. It's out there. It's clear. And I can tell you, having been on the board of many nonprofits, one big check for $25,000 goes way further than a thousand dollars, $5,000. So I would say even if we want to, you know, look at adopting similar what they're doing. But then allow several nonprofits to come make a presentation of the impact. And then we vote on one. I think I'm giving them.
[45:29] I think someone needs to do an ordinance or resolution set the rules in place like they are we don't have to make them as extensive of that and let's start
[45:37] I think Jason had something that yeah, there's a command wanted to say something. I want to get away. We only have a few minutes left and I know we hadn't heard from three of us yet
[45:46] So I'd like to I do have a few thoughts on this and I'll be brief
[45:54] I'm not a huge fan of collecting tax dollars and giving it out to nonprofits and charities.
[46:00] I think that that's everybody's own personal civic duty and people ought to be able to give
[46:06] their charitable contributions to organizations that they feel are worthwhile and worthy
[46:12] in to what extent and all that.
[46:14] It's a personal decision.
[46:15] So I'm not a huge fan of a public entity collecting tax dollars and saying we shall spend it on this.
[46:20] I do agree with Ms. McGuire that there are some organizations that do provide some
[46:26] essential services to the city and in a lot of cases these nonprofits and private
[46:32] organizations can do it a lot more efficiently and a lot better than public
[46:35] entities. So I get that and so I just think that we need to be very selective when
[46:42] we do it. I think there's a lot of good discussion here tonight but I'm not I'm
[46:47] I'm going to be very selective in what I support as well, and I believe that if we do this, it ought to be limited to those organizations that are providing essential services to the citizens of Manneville, and we ought to just look very carefully at it.
[47:04] I agree, and I think the key word there is essential. I mean, there's a lot of different way. And I see how should I, I'm sorry, let Kevin talk.
[47:13] I've talked.
[47:13] I've talked.
[47:15] I agree with what everybody said actually.
[47:18] I agree with Mr. Zuckerman about, you know, having to be very choosy and Ms. McGuire for
[47:23] everything that Ms. McGuire has said about being selective and it has to be for essential
[47:28] services and Councilman Strong-Thompson I think brings excellent ideas to the table that,
[47:32] you know, we're going to do it.
[47:33] At least let's have a define procedure that other cities have successfully implemented and
[47:38] It's documented, so I share all of that.
[47:41] I hope that somebody will maybe grab by the horns
[47:44] and do the next thing in terms of emotional resolution.
[47:48] Yeah, so I think we need, who wants to work on this?
[47:52] You, Miss Cynthia and Jill, you all want to work on
[47:56] maybe a resolution on an ordinance and put some rules together?
[47:59] I think the best way to, once you get that going,
[48:02] then we could set out a notice.
[48:05] and I guess they can submit their applications
[48:08] and we could have an initial review
[48:12] and pull out the ones we don't think are acceptable
[48:15] and they may be narrowed down to five
[48:17] and then let those five people come forward to present
[48:20] and then we pick the ones we want,
[48:21] something like that, I don't know.
[48:23] But once again, we gotta start somewhere on that.
[48:26] So, do you wanna close out the one that goes out of you?
[48:29] Sure, we can close out the meeting
[48:31] but our next step I guess would be to talk to you,
[48:33] Jessica, maybe just to see the, and work on like an application process and, okay, and
[48:41] maybe we start with when we, when I think a great way of kind of nearing it down is key
[48:47] words.
[48:47] It's that, that the, the nonprofits that apply need to be nonprofits that serve the citizens
[48:54] of Mandeville with essential services.
[48:58] I agree.
[48:58] And I don't think that's just an opinion that you hold.
[49:01] Well, this is in the spirit of what the LLA is saying.
[49:04] They need to provide, it's a transaction.
[49:07] They are providing service that we are paying for.
[49:09] Exactly.
[49:10] It's not we're donating for their car.
[49:13] For their car.
[49:13] Right.
[49:14] I think that's important.
[49:16] Okay.
[49:16] Great.
[49:18] A move we shut this work session so I can grab a bottle of water before we start our official
[49:22] meeting at six.
[49:26] Second.
[49:26] I'll second.
[49:29] We're doing.
[49:30] All right.
[49:31] All right.
[49:31] All right.
[49:32] All right.
[49:32] Okay, this means adjourned.
[49:34] And they had a good.
[49:35] We've got a six o'clock general meeting.
[49:37] Still got out there.
[49:38] Good evening, good evening.
[49:40] We're going to call tonight's meeting at six o'clock,
[49:43] City of Manneville, October 24th, 2024 meeting.
[49:49] And we will start off with a moment of silence
[49:53] and I'll lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[49:56] If you will please stand.
[49:57] Thank you.
[50:03] A Pledge of Allegiance.
[50:22] Okay, so we're going to remember tonight is a three minute rule on speaking and we're going to abide by that because we've got to be strict
[50:32] We've got to if he if you're going to speak, let's try to tighten it up so we can get everybody out of here at a reasonable hour
[50:38] And then secondly, let's go ahead and do a roll call. Thank you.
[50:42] Jason's document.
[50:43] President.
[50:58] We're going to do a adoption of October 10th, 2024 regular meeting minutes. I just need a motion.
[51:05] Motion.
[51:08] Okay, I don't believe we need any discussion, we're just going to adopt, or is that correct?
[51:12] All in favor say aye.
[51:14] Aye.
[51:15] It's a vote, so you should ask for a comment, public comment on the minutes.
[51:21] Excuse me on that.
[51:22] Do we have any council discussion on the minutes?
[51:26] Any public comment?
[51:28] This is the minutes of October 10th, 2024.
[51:31] Okay, so there's no public comment.
[51:33] And therefore, we can go ahead and take a all in favor say aye.
[51:39] Aye.
[51:39] Aye.
[51:40] Any opposed?
[51:41] Okay.
[51:41] So they're adopted.
[51:43] And then we'll go into reports announcements and message from the mayor.
[51:47] The mayor is out of town this weekend.
[51:49] This week he's at a conference.
[51:52] We'll do the appointment of the council member at large and district council member for
[51:56] the agreement on the order of nomination and nominations for the planning and zoning
[52:01] commission candidate.
[52:02] So,
[52:05] I appointed myself as the Councilman at large, and then I also appointed Councilwoman Cynthia Strongtopson, so we will be the two that will confer the nominations for tonight's vote for planning and zoning, and that will come forward in new business.
[52:28] Can I, one thing I don't want to put a Leon spot, but is there any activities that you want to make us aware of that normally the mayor would do?
[52:41] Okay, sugar shakers on Friday.
[52:44] Yeah, if you don't mind.
[52:50] The white water.
[52:52] The white water festival is on Saturday.
[52:55] And next week is the last, no, not the last, because we have to reschedule.
[52:59] We have the Deacon John concert at Mandival Live and the Creole Culture Fest at the Mandival Trailhead.
[53:05] So wait, the Creole culture fest is on Saturday, okay, yes, November 2nd.
[53:11] Oh, okay.
[53:12] And I just want to add that the planning department.
[53:16] Oh, God.
[53:17] I'm sorry.
[53:18] And the milk shakers walk them out is this Sunday.
[53:20] It's Sunday.
[53:20] Yes.
[53:21] Was mandible live?
[53:22] Why water festival and made the milk shakers walk them out?
[53:25] Busy, busy, busy.
[53:27] Who needs football games?
[53:29] And we'll have a booth at the wide water festival for the comprehensive plan
[53:33] and so you can come out and take a survey with the QR code.
[53:39] You don't have to do it there.
[53:40] But we're going to be there handing out some Manaville swag
[53:42] and getting some people interested.
[53:45] So speaking of that, whenever I was at the Planning and Zoning
[53:49] Meeting, y'all were talking about a time
[53:51] that y'all are going to do the comp plan, something about food.
[53:55] That's what peaked my entrance.
[53:57] Yeah, that's.
[53:58] I heard food and was like, when is this?
[54:00] Future interest.
[54:01] Yeah.
[54:04] on
[54:07] October huge brownies last time. On October 29th, this is a Tuesday. We will have an open house from five to seven. Okay, so that's next Tuesday, right? It's going to be at the community center. Okay, and it's like it's open house, house styles. We don't have to you can just drop in and out as you please.
[54:25] like you don't have to get there right at five five just seven okay what does
[54:29] Clay call it science fair style yeah okay it's your style all right thank you
[54:34] man okay thank you um next up is the finance report with city finance
[54:41] director Jessica Farno Jessica you want to take it thank you good evening everyone so
[54:51] So we're looking at our September 30th, 2024 finance report for the month of September.
[55:01] It's the first month of fiscal year 2025.
[55:05] The fiscal year-to-date revenue collection is $2.2 million, which is 3.7% of the 2025 budget.
[55:14] sales tax collections for the year of $1.69 million,
[55:18] which is 7.7% of the budget for overall collections.
[55:23] This is $41,000 less than the fiscal year-to-date collections
[55:26] for 2024.
[55:29] There's our little graph right
[55:34] here.
[55:35] The operating expenditures incurred to date
[55:37] during fiscal year 25 total 1.8 million,
[55:41] just 7.7% of the operating budget
[55:45] of 25.1 million capital outlay to date is 44,000 and is 0.2% of the capital outlay budget.
[55:54] The Enterprise Fund
[55:58] revenue for the fiscal year to date totals $352,000 which is 8.2% of
[56:06] the operating revenue budget of 4.3 million.
[56:09] the operating expenses incurred to date during fiscal year 25, total 302,000, which is 5.1%
[56:19] of the $3.9 million budget, excluding depreciation. Capital outlay to date is $286,000, $4.9% of the
[56:30] capital outlay budget. The city currently has 113 active employees and we are always working
[56:37] to fill vacant positions.
[56:42] Okay, does anyone have any, any council members have any questions
[56:46] for our finance director? So one of the questions when we were talking
[56:51] about some of the changing the water and sewer rates, what's the status on that?
[56:56] We, the consulting company that was helping us with the study, they helped their drafting
[57:03] a resolution. It just got emailed to me and Keith today for us to look over.
[57:10] It's lengthy,
[57:11] so we have to analyze it a little bit and make sure it really is going to eat and maybe
[57:18] with the assistance of legal as well to make sure it's written correctly in a way that's
[57:22] long-lasting and can make for the adjustments needed over time.
[57:26] Okay. And one of the other things we were talking about this Monday because this is what we
[57:30] always get hit with. So everybody's asking what is the fund balance? So when you
[57:37] talk about that where do we stand? So I did put a little
[57:45] spreadsheet
[57:46] together and we were in the middle of closing out fiscal year 24, you know,
[57:53] for adjustments, the year-end adjustments for accrual base accounting. So stop
[57:59] there because I've made a C in accounting and there are reasons why, but a cruel-based
[58:05] accounting versus cash-based accounting. What is the difference there?
[58:10] Right, so you know at the end of the year there's going to be some things that we hadn't paid for
[58:16] in cash yet, invoices and things that are waiting, you know, we either hadn't made it to the finance
[58:24] and department yet, or ongoing construction projects
[58:27] that sometimes invoices lag behind.
[58:30] Well, if the work is done in fiscal year 24,
[58:32] we need to accrue those expenses into fiscal year 24,
[58:37] even if they aren't paid until fiscal year 25.
[58:40] So the cash flows of it are different than where you would
[58:44] record the expenses and revenues.
[58:47] So there's adjustments being made for things
[58:50] as we are reconciling accounts in preparation for the audit, so these numbers are subjects
[59:02] to change, in other words, we're still going through.
[59:05] There is a big fat asterisks within the number.
[59:07] Yeah, I don't think, you know, super significantly, but things do change when you close out
[59:13] the year because of a cruel basis accounting.
[59:16] Throughout the year and these monthly reports, they tend to be closer to cash basis because
[59:20] Because when we pull the reports from our accounting system to draw up this report, it's
[59:28] not inclusive of all the accruals.
[59:30] We can't do all the accruals on a month-to-month basis.
[59:33] It would be the most enormous amount of work you can imagine.
[59:37] It's hard enough to do it at year-end.
[59:40] They tend to be closer to cash basis.
[59:43] You'll see the inflows and outfotes more on a monthly basis than at the year-end we'll
[59:47] do the accruals.
[59:51] And it's not 100% cash basis because say we pay an invoice, you know, this month in October, but it was related.
[1:00:15] So, when you're looking at these numbers, tell us a little bit of what you got here. So, these were numbers from the month to month reports. I took the net fund increase. So, these are each of the funds.
[1:00:31] And I took the fiscal year 23 ending fund balance from the audited financial statements.
[1:00:38] Then I put in the net fund increase or decrease from the August financial report, the monthly financial report.
[1:00:47] I put in the net fund increase or decrease from the September report that we just went over and computed what the
[1:00:56] approximate on audited current fund balances for each of the funds so this is
[1:01:02] correct me from wrong though but this is just a snapshot in time this is just
[1:01:08] correct this is the balance as of this moment it has no correlation whatsoever to
[1:01:13] what the projected fund balance is at the end of the year correct so the budget
[1:01:20] numbers aren't in here it's just like it's like my checkbook but I know I got a
[1:01:24] a bunch of bills coming up and this happens to be my balance right now.
[1:01:27] Correct.
[1:01:28] And so when people are asking for this, I think they're basing it off of a cash system
[1:01:33] and we are a cruel which is why the other report is much more important, it's correct.
[1:01:39] Right.
[1:01:39] Yeah.
[1:01:41] So, so basically when we look at this then on each of these and I'm blind as a bat.
[1:01:48] So, these are basically the numbers we have that we're working on.
[1:01:54] Let's see how about it from here.
[1:01:55] So, these are the numbers we're having.
[1:01:58] Now when we were talking, so basically the current fund balance unaudited on the general fund
[1:02:05] is 15 million and that has got a decrease of $593,000 correct.
[1:02:11] For the month of September, yeah.
[1:02:13] It's related to invoices paid out from the hurricane.
[1:02:16] I mean, emergency expenditures, I would say a little bit more than anticipated in that month.
[1:02:22] Okay, so, but when we're looking at this, every once in a while we may ask for this, but
[1:02:28] the true numbers that we really want to follow are right here, and so when we're getting
[1:02:32] hassled with the fund balances, they do exist, but these are really the numbers we're supposed
[1:02:37] to be being used correct.
[1:02:39] That does numbers show the activity in the month.
[1:02:41] Okay.
[1:02:42] And it's just revenues and expenses, you know, not really looking at what, there's no
[1:02:49] assets or, you know, so you're not seeing how much cash we have in the bank or anything.
[1:02:53] Other indicators of the health of the city, they're not really on the monthly report.
[1:02:57] Okay.
[1:02:58] Well, and that's fair.
[1:02:59] I guess the only thing that I'm really concerned about is you are short to clerks, correct?
[1:03:07] And what's the status of getting that filled?
[1:03:09] the utility billing clerk position is in has been tested the top three are
[1:03:15] Interviews are being arranged. Okay. All right. And then I
[1:03:20] Guess that's when do we think that that might get filled?
[1:03:27] Okay, because
[1:03:31] that's all the audit team like last week and they're playing a month. Yeah. Okay. Cool. Thank you
[1:03:38] Okay, does any other council member have any questions?
[1:03:43] Anybody from the public which you all like to make a comment?
[1:03:47] Yes, ma'am. Can you please step forward and state your name and address for the record,
[1:03:53] please?
[1:03:54] Rebecca Roer about 25, 25, link short drive. I was just curious. I understand everything
[1:04:00] you said. In fact, I take the net fund increase and decrease and just apply it to the fund
[1:04:08] ballots before. And why would you keep a running or tracking of it? It's within reason.
[1:04:12] But why are franchise taxes not represented this month at all?
[1:04:19] When do those come in and what's the timing, why does it vary?
[1:04:44] So again, with these reports, the monthly reports, some of the accruals, so certain things
[1:04:51] like franchise taxes, we record it when we receive it.
[1:04:55] So if there's any delay in our receipt of these taxes, it won't make it to the monthly report.
[1:05:03] at the end of the fiscal year, we start to look for the things that are maybe missing.
[1:05:09] Like, say if we didn't receive the franchise taxes in August, we'd be looking to make
[1:05:14] that a cruel at the end of the year, but on the monthly reports.
[1:05:19] It's, if we didn't receive the inflow, we don't make a cruel on a month-to-month basis.
[1:05:25] Respect you.
[1:05:26] Do that answer your question.
[1:05:30] Okay.
[1:05:30] Thank you.
[1:05:31] any more comments from the public?
[1:05:34] Okay, if no further comments, we'll move on to special events permits.
[1:05:43] And tonight we have the approval.
[1:05:45] Only had one special event permit.
[1:05:47] It's the approval of the special event permit application and liquor license
[1:05:51] for Mary Queen of Peace.
[1:05:53] Jambalaya Cookoff.
[1:05:55] You've been to be held on November 11th, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
[1:06:00] I'm Location Mary Queen of Peace, 1501 West Causeway Approach,
[1:06:05] Manavilla, Louisiana Approval Request,
[1:06:07] permission to apply for ATC permit,
[1:06:10] contingent upon ATC permit.
[1:06:14] This is presented by Councilwoman McWire.
[1:06:17] I need a motion, please.
[1:06:19] Motion.
[1:06:20] In a second.
[1:06:20] Second, I don't mind taking this,
[1:06:22] but it is out of my district,
[1:06:24] but if that council member would like to take it,
[1:06:27] they can, I don't mind rolling with it.
[1:06:29] So this is in Mary Queen of Peace, is anybody here from Mary Queen of Peace?
[1:06:38] So they want to do a cook off on their property and they are having to apply because they
[1:06:47] need the ATC liquor license, especially for permit in order to do that.
[1:06:55] It looks like their paperwork is in order, Aliyah, is there anything, everything is good,
[1:07:02] all their paperwork is good, are we waiting on anything?
[1:07:05] I just realized this was Mary Queen of Peace, not our Lady of the Lake.
[1:07:09] Everything is good, it's their annual event, nothing's changed, they just need the permission
[1:07:14] to apply for the ATC permit.
[1:07:16] Okay, great, yeah, okay, well, sounds yummy.
[1:07:21] me. Okay, if thank you Councilwoman Macquarie. I just need we have a motion. We second is
[1:07:28] any public comment other than okay. All in favor? We'll take you to vote. All in favor say
[1:07:34] aye. Aye. Any opposed? Zero. Okay. Thank you. We'll move on to unfinished business. The
[1:07:42] adoption of ordinance 24-36, which is an ordinance of the City Council of the City of
[1:07:47] I'm ending the job description of cultural development clerk two within the cultural development department and providing for other matters and connection there with.
[1:07:58] This is offered up by Councilman Diskin at large and do I have a motion motion a second second.
[1:08:06] Okay, I think is this Joanne are you going to handle this for us please, thank you.
[1:08:11] Yeah, so this position, the cultural development clerk, too, was created back in 2012 and it hasn't seen an update since then after, I mean, as you guys know,
[1:08:22] Alia's department has has taken on a lot of responsibility since 2012. And so we needed to do just a couple of changes to the job description.
[1:08:32] The changes are in red on the job description that you're looking at.
[1:08:38] We added city parks to the list of things that this person would assist with and also
[1:08:45] to help maintain the schedule of all of the city's recreational facilities.
[1:08:51] And then another requirement that was added was the ability to work flexible hours including
[1:08:56] morning evenings, nights, and weekends.
[1:09:00] And that's it.
[1:09:01] thank you.
[1:09:04] Any questions from any council members? Okay anybody from the public
[1:09:10] would like to comment? No public comment so with that we'll go ahead and do a
[1:09:17] roll call please vote. Jason Zuckerman. 4. Cynthia Strong Thompson. 4. Joe Maguire. 4.
[1:09:30] Kevin
[1:09:31] adopted, we have adopted, I'm sorry, ordinance 2436.
[1:09:36] Second item on the agenda tonight on unfinished business is adoption of ordinance 20 chairman that that's been withdrawn.
[1:09:45] Yes sir.
[1:09:46] Okay, 2437 has been withdrawn.
[1:09:51] We're going to number three, adoption of ordinance 24-38, which is an ordinance of the city of council of the city of Manaville.
[1:10:00] to amend ordinance on the 24-22 the operating budget of the city of mandible and for other matters in connection there with this is being offered up by Councilman
[1:10:10] Zuckerman at large do we have a motion motion and a second second and Mr. Councilman Zuckerman do you have anything you want to say this is just the budget
[1:10:21] adjustment that corresponds to the property tax cut that we had done, the council had done
[1:10:27] at the two meetings ago. So it reduces the projected revenue based off of the millage reduction.
[1:10:34] It's the first of two that'll probably be required once we understand, but the totalist finalist
[1:10:41] says value of properties across the city of Manivore. We just, this city doesn't know that yet,
[1:10:48] we don't know if the total impact of that milled reduction is going to be so this is what we know
[1:10:52] as of now based on the initial assessment of property value across the city.
[1:10:59] Okay also with given the
[1:11:01] fact that you need to have two things do we have a corresponding for balanced budget where we're
[1:11:05] taking it out? Are we taking 147,000 out of any projects or anything like that at this time?
[1:11:15] Okay so not at this time so this is just a budget adjustment.
[1:11:19] Just a budget adjustment adjustment to reduce expected revenues.
[1:11:25] And can you just walk us through, how did the number get computed, and I know it has
[1:11:30] to get revised.
[1:11:32] And Tina, if you want to put my screen on.
[1:11:36] So this was a spreadsheet edit I had shown y'all during the millage discussions, and what
[1:11:42] What I did was this number came from the grand recap, total property value assessments
[1:11:50] at 8.21 percent, I mean at 8.21 mills this is the estimated tax collection, this 2.5 percent
[1:12:00] estimated uncollectable is an average of the past five years excluding 2020 which was an
[1:12:07] outlier at like almost 9% not collected related to COVID. So I excluded that one from the
[1:12:18] average. And so then that's how I came to 1.9, or yeah, a million 996,000.
[1:12:31] Do you have any idea when we'll really know what the actual number is?
[1:12:39] Typically most of the collections happen in the beginning of the year.
[1:12:43] It's weighted towards the first quarter of the calendar year.
[1:12:50] So I think we can take a look and maybe April or so and see what collections are.
[1:12:54] Well, we ought to be able to find out once the reassessments are completed with the assessor's office,
[1:13:00] with the final, because this calculation is done off of the total assessed value of all property in the city of mandible.
[1:13:07] So once the reassessment period is complete, people requesting reviews and all those sorts of things that new,
[1:13:14] total taxable value of all property in the city of mandible will be known and we can redo the calculation.
[1:13:20] And in addition to that, we can look at the uncollectable amount as well.
[1:13:29] Like I said, I excluded 2020 as an outlier, but because there were collections and subsequent
[1:13:35] years of amounts due in 2020, there was a percentage not collected in 2021 and 2022 was
[1:13:43] a lower than then prior to COVID, because people were catching up on their property
[1:13:50] text bills. So it may have sort of altered the uncollectable amount to a lower rate.
[1:13:57] If I included fiscal year 2022 was about 3.5%. If I included in the average. So this was
[1:14:07] is a pretty, you know, I took the lower amount.
[1:14:11] So it's possible if we look at market dynamics
[1:14:16] and whether people are paying, you know, there,
[1:14:20] because some people will have increased taxes
[1:14:22] even with the lower military,
[1:14:23] depending on how much their assessment went on.
[1:14:26] So that's what the Arnemer and they are doing.
[1:14:28] Whether they pay their tax, you know,
[1:14:29] their property tax went on.
[1:14:30] But the reality is with this,
[1:14:31] even with these estimates,
[1:14:32] we're not looking at million dollar swings one way or the other,
[1:14:35] we're looking at tens of thousand swings.
[1:14:37] And you're just, you're taking a solid best guess that we're working with good numbers
[1:14:41] until at point of time.
[1:14:43] Right.
[1:14:43] And this adjustment is, is so that we stay in line with budget law.
[1:14:47] You know, we need to be within 5% in the call it a favorable variance, right?
[1:14:53] Like you can underestimate your revenues and be perfectly fine, but if you overestimate
[1:14:57] them at a greater than five.
[1:15:00] 5%, then you're running into budget law violations. Okay, thank you.
[1:15:10] Do we have any further discussion from anybody in the public? Okay, if there's no further comment, we will go ahead and do a roll call. Jason's document. For. For.
[1:15:25] 4, Joe McGuire?
[1:15:26] 4.
[1:15:27] Kevin, what's the answer?
[1:15:28] 4.
[1:15:29] Scott.
[1:15:30] 4.
[1:15:31] OK, so that makes ordinance 24-38 has been adopted.
[1:15:37] So now we will move on to new business.
[1:15:41] We have seven items in new business tonight.
[1:15:44] The first item up is the nomination of candidate
[1:15:47] for the Man of the Parks and Parkways Commission.
[1:15:55] I guess a clarification.
[1:15:56] We voting on her tonight are just introducing says nominations. So that's not an appointment in the past
[1:16:06] It's been nomination and appointment on the same meeting
[1:16:12] That's normally how it's been advertised in the past as well. That's that's all I'm asking. I'm new with this
[1:16:18] Okay,
[1:16:22] well, I mean
[1:16:24] If it says just a nomination
[1:16:26] I mean on this one it may not be that big of a deal but on the following one is the nomination of the
[1:16:34] planning and zoning commission so is the public just thinking that we are doing
[1:16:38] nominations tonight and not voting I
[1:16:43] mean I'm not the public so I can't tell you
[1:16:45] what the public is but I would tell you that open meetings law because it says
[1:16:48] nomination and it does not say appointment I could see that there would be some
[1:16:53] confusion and possibly it wouldn't need to be yes so I we can interpret it as just
[1:16:58] a nomination for tonight yeah I didn't anticipate voting on this evening because
[1:17:04] because I anticipated we'd be publishing the names of the nominees so that the public
[1:17:10] had a chance to get with their council members and voice their support or opposition.
[1:17:14] So what we can do tonight is I can read the nomination for each of the, yeah, so let me
[1:17:24] finish.
[1:17:25] We're going to do the nomination of the Canada for the Man of the Parks and then we'll go
[1:17:28] into the next one.
[1:17:28] So the first person, there's only one candidate nominated for Parks and Parkways, I personally
[1:17:34] know her as I sat on the Parks Parkways Commissioner for 10 years.
[1:17:38] Her name is Patricia Zippert and I'll just redo her letter because this is an introduction
[1:17:45] only.
[1:17:46] Her husband and it says, my husband and I raised our family, Mandeville and have loving, have
[1:17:51] loved being residents here since July 2002 and the last few years I have come to realize
[1:17:56] the importance of native plant species to ecosystems and have taken a deep dive into advocating
[1:18:01] for their use in the landscape. In late 2020, during the pandemic, I commented on the next
[1:18:07] door app regarding my appreciation for the long-leaf pine, savanna conservation area at the intersection
[1:18:13] of East approach and Florida Avenue. It was then that Scott Diskin invited me to attend Parkson Parkway's
[1:18:19] meetings. I am a member of the St. Anthony Master Gardener Association and she's president of the
[1:18:24] Constraint Basin Chapter Wild Ones, Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.
[1:18:28] Either I or one of our board members has made every effort to attend the commission's monthly meetings over the past three years.
[1:18:35] This has taught me about mandibles love for its native trees and landscapes.
[1:18:39] I beloved our beloved mandibles rich in natural beauty and biodiversity.
[1:18:43] Nature, balance here and I want to contribute to keeping it that way.
[1:18:47] I would appreciate your consideration to have me join the Man of a Parks and Parkways Commission as a member to fill a vacancy.
[1:18:53] I would appreciate the opportunity to contribute my knowledge in the guidance and
[1:18:57] mandibles efforts to reintroduce, preserve, and protect our native tree species in public landscapes.
[1:19:04] These species are beautiful, easy care, and are naturally adapted workforces of our environment.
[1:19:09] They provide ecological services for animal life, natural asset,
[1:19:13] with stormwater management, clean our air, and help filter out groundwater.
[1:19:17] Thank you for consideration.
[1:19:19] Best regards, Patty Zebert.
[1:19:21] And did you have something you wanted to say since you are the okay, so we will nominate I moved to nominate
[1:19:30] Patty
[1:19:31] Okay, we have a motion a second all in favor
[1:19:37] Just the nomination all in favor the nomination point of order. I got a I got a question
[1:19:41] Yeah, because I am completely lost with the process here
[1:19:45] I thought that the resolution that we passed regarding the appointment of commissioners applied to all commission
[1:19:51] and that it was going to be a nomination, a published name, and then we were going to vote on it.
[1:19:59] I didn't think it was just for maybe I'm wrong, but that's why I'm asking the question.
[1:20:05] So are we appointing the P and Z commission or differently than we're appointing parks and parkways?
[1:20:13] Resolution 2460 only is pursuant for planning and zoning commission.
[1:20:18] So parks and parkways was not included in that.
[1:20:21] Okay, so we have to vote on a nomination.
[1:20:23] And then we vote on the.
[1:20:26] Make the nomination.
[1:20:27] So I think what we could do is you can do it anyway.
[1:20:30] You want because there's not a procedure in place for it.
[1:20:34] Marvelous.
[1:20:36] So for the nomination for parks and parkways,
[1:20:39] we can just make a nomination tonight.
[1:20:41] We introduced her.
[1:20:43] So we don't need to make a motion to introduce her as a nomination.
[1:20:46] You
[1:20:50] would just nominate the person that you would want to make the nomination of.
[1:20:54] And then if everybody's in agreement with it, it is now a nomination.
[1:20:57] And it will sit there until our next meeting.
[1:20:59] That's why I was asking for all in favor for the nomination to be accepted.
[1:21:07] Please say aye.
[1:21:09] And any opposed, please say opposed.
[1:21:12] So if we're voting on anything, I think you have to ask for public comment
[1:21:17] before you vote. Okay, I don't know if it's all in favor.
[1:21:19] Yes, so I'll take that back. So I will, okay, so we're going to talk with Council.
[1:21:27] I think she's a great candidate. I worked with her. And the great thing about Patty is she's
[1:21:35] with this group called the Wild Ones and they're into native plants. So over the years, Parks
[1:21:41] and Parkways has gone more into a native lifestyle of planting where we don't have
[1:21:46] of the heavy maintenance and costs associated
[1:21:49] with traditional forms of landscaping.
[1:21:52] And if you see our landscape projects over the past four,
[1:21:55] or five years along the highways,
[1:21:57] you'll notice that the maintenance of them
[1:21:59] is minimal compared to what it would be
[1:22:02] to have someone out there edging and weeding
[1:22:05] on a daily basis.
[1:22:07] So their belief is more of a native lifestyle planting.
[1:22:13] And so I think it's a great candidate.
[1:22:17] So I would be in favor of a nomination.
[1:22:20] Does anyone else have a comment up here?
[1:22:22] Does anyone matter?
[1:22:23] Okay.
[1:22:24] Anyone from the audience?
[1:22:27] Okay.
[1:22:28] So I
[1:22:33] move that we just have a motion.
[1:22:37] We have already had motion.
[1:22:38] We already have a second.
[1:22:40] So all in favor of the nomination of the candidate of Becky Zabrick, please say aye.
[1:22:47] Aye.
[1:22:47] Okay.
[1:22:48] And there's no nays.
[1:22:50] So Patty's been nominated.
[1:22:51] We will vote on her at the next
[1:22:53] scheduled meeting.
[1:22:54] What is our next meeting?
[1:22:55] Does anyone know?
[1:22:57] November the 21st of alley.
[1:23:01] I think it is this way first.
[1:23:03] Can someone check?
[1:23:03] I'm checking.
[1:23:06] I got it.
[1:23:07] So we have a little wait.
[1:23:09] Sorry about that.
[1:23:11] Anyway, we'll go on to number two.
[1:23:13] The nomination of candidate for the Mandible Planning
[1:23:15] and Zoning Commission.
[1:23:17] And on this candidate, we will be
[1:23:21] be abiding by Resolution number 2460, did you want to go ahead and make any comment on
[1:23:26] 2460?
[1:23:27] City Attorney, please?
[1:23:29] Sure.
[1:23:29] So, 2460 was adopted earlier this sheet actually just months ago for the procedure for
[1:23:38] the appointment of a PNZ commissioner.
[1:23:43] And in specific, we've kind of gone through steps one through eight at this point.
[1:23:51] And so now we're at step nine, which states, at a future meeting date to be determined
[1:23:57] by the council chairman, after reviewing the resumes and conferring about the qualifications
[1:24:01] of the applicants, the council chairman shall appoint two council members, one of whom must
[1:24:07] be a council member at large and maybe the council chairman himself, and one of whom must
[1:24:11] be a district council member and these two council members shall make a motion in a second
[1:24:15] nominating an individual for selection and appointment to the commissions. Following
[1:24:21] then we're going to step ten, the council will vote on the nomination by the two council
[1:24:26] members appointed by the council chairman by roll call. If the nomination of the individual
[1:24:30] does not receive a favorable majority vote, the two council members shall make another motion
[1:24:35] in a second nominating a different individual for selection and appointment to the commissions.
[1:24:38] In the event that the nomination does not receive a favorable majority vote, the two
[1:24:43] council members shall repeat the aforementioned process until an individual nominated for
[1:24:48] membership to the commission's receives a favorable majority vote.
[1:24:52] In the event that the city council is unable to agree upon a candidate to appoint to the
[1:24:56] commission's comment, the council chairman shall direct the council to clerk to initiate
[1:24:59] the process provided herein for another advertising and appointment cycle period.
[1:25:05] Okay. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Now, so in the purpose of sections of this entire procedure
[1:25:14] was to give some guidelines and to kind of prevent some of the things that have happened
[1:25:22] in the past in that it was kind of a race to see who could nominate first. And so that was
[1:25:28] the intent behind this was there to be almost like an internal nominating committee which
[1:25:33] you've selected Councilwoman Strong Thompson to serve on that, and so now you're at because
[1:25:39] the way that it was advertised, you're at the space for nomination of that individual.
[1:25:45] So real quick, and I might need you to reread that one sentence.
[1:25:49] If we can't agree on the first person nominated, can you talk about what happens, I know that
[1:25:58] there was a process that it sounded like they have to go down the three that have applied
[1:26:04] and then they would reopen it too. Can you just repeat that one sentence again?
[1:26:11] If the nomination of the event individual does not receive a favorable majority vote,
[1:26:16] the two council members shall make another motion in a second, nominating a different individual
[1:26:20] for selection and appointment to the commissions. From those nominees? Yes. Okay.
[1:26:28] That would presume they agree.
[1:26:30] So the question is if you're having a nomination in a second,
[1:26:33] you would need a nomination in a second or a nomination in a second.
[1:26:37] Although the word is shall, right?
[1:26:39] They shall make a motion in a second.
[1:26:44] Yeah.
[1:26:47] So my question, looking at the interpretation of this paragraph number 10,
[1:26:53] is what if the two, the committee,
[1:26:57] Let's just call myself in strong Thompson councilman strong Thompson
[1:27:03] The committee the nomination committee because what we're doing is we're nominating an applicant
[1:27:09] We have three applicants right now. No one has been nominated so tonight
[1:27:12] We will be nominating the first person that that we feel should be nominated that we feel is the most
[1:27:20] Most worthy of the vote in our opinion now what if
[1:27:24] If the first person does not get in, do we go back and choose a second?
[1:27:30] I think that's what we just said.
[1:27:31] What if there's a disagreement between the two, the Council at large and the Council District
[1:27:37] Committee, over who goes next?
[1:27:40] Second.
[1:27:41] When the original resolution was drafted, there was a consensus between Council Chair, Council
[1:27:48] at large, document and you, Mr. Diskin, that at some point you guys would have to be able to agree on somebody realistically that you guys would be able to put differences aside and agree on somebody.
[1:28:01] That was the intention behind this.
[1:28:04] And then we made changes to where it was no longer the councilman at large.
[1:28:08] We had a district council member in there as well.
[1:28:14] Okay, so we can't agree what happens then.
[1:28:19] The resolution doesn't say.
[1:28:22] Well, I think, I think, well, look, I hate getting into the sausage before we've even gotten into the first nomination.
[1:28:29] But if the word says shall, it says that there shall be a motion of second, then I think that that's shall means what it means,
[1:28:37] which is that it will be done.
[1:28:39] I don't, back when it was Councilman Zuckerman and Councilman Diskin, the entire point, as I recall,
[1:28:44] was that if you got ten applications, there was going to be some nomination that came out of the small committee,
[1:28:51] the idea that you would get ten applications and that there would just be an impasse, and you would nominate no one,
[1:28:58] that was not contemplated.
[1:28:59] It was at the bottom where it said you'd initiate the process and start all over again.
[1:29:06] But isn't that only if the council has rejected every single person applies?
[1:29:12] It was presuming that the two people would be able to come to an agreement, which I believe
[1:29:18] they have come to an agreement.
[1:29:19] But we have an agreement on the first nomination, and we haven't gone to that.
[1:29:24] I just thought there'd be appropriate to discuss interpretation of number 10.
[1:29:30] In case there is, if this becomes, we have had this similar situation in the, or a similar
[1:29:40] situation of what you're describing in the past wherein it was the last council you had
[1:29:48] a council at large and it was a district council member that had to agree on somebody.
[1:29:54] And I know I've been through that process in which I had a first choice.
[1:30:00] The other district council member had a different first choice, and out of the applicants, there was still somebody that you could both agree on, and that's what we did. So I'm not sure, I mean, I know in this case, we have three very well-qualified applicants, I would hope that out of the three applicants we have, that y'all could, if the first one doesn't pass for some reason, that y'all could settle on one of the other
[1:30:29] to qualify to applicants.
[1:30:34] Okay, so any other questions up here regarding number 10?
[1:30:39] Do you have any questions over here?
[1:30:41] Just ask to check again.
[1:30:43] Usually you can know Mr. Chairman,
[1:30:45] and I don't have any more questions right now.
[1:30:46] Just check it.
[1:30:48] Okay, so without further ado,
[1:30:50] then I guess we'll do the nomination
[1:30:51] of the candidate for the Manifold Planning and Zoning Commission
[1:30:55] and Councilwoman Strong and I, Cynthia Strong and I sat today
[1:31:01] is afternoon and we conferred and we would like to nominate Sean Potter as the nomination for planning and zoning.
[1:31:13] And if that's okay, I would like to introduce Mr. Potter to the public and the record.
[1:31:24] Before I go into Sean's, I did have one more thing I wanted to, I did a little research
[1:31:32] today, excuse me,
[1:31:36] it's called Best Practices of a Planning and Zoning and it kind of goes
[1:31:44] like this.
[1:31:46] Traits have an effective Planning Commissioner so it's just some guideline because you know
[1:31:51] information is great for all of us.
[1:31:53] A planning commissioners play, planning commissioners play an integral part in a city's future trajectory.
[1:32:00] As such, they must exhibit certain qualities and they work to achieve the best results.
[1:32:05] They include
[1:32:08] patients, and effective planning commissioner thinks beyond short term gains and
[1:32:13] focuses on the long term development and sustainability of the community.
[1:32:17] Geographic representation ensuring the commission reflects different areas within the community to address diverse concerns.
[1:32:25] conference, conflict of interest, assessment, thorough review of potential conflicts arising
[1:32:30] from personal professional interests related to development projects.
[1:32:35] Diverse representation, aim for a commission that reflects the demographics and interests
[1:32:39] of the community, balanced perspectives, consider appointing individuals with a range of viewpoints
[1:32:45] and development issues.
[1:32:47] Public service ethics, as a planning commissioner, you will considerable power over how your community
[1:32:53] grows and develops. With this power comes the expectation that you will hold yourself to
[1:32:58] the highest ethical standards. Part of being ethical means exercising your power and the
[1:33:02] public's interest as opposed to personal self-interest or other narrow private interests.
[1:33:07] Anyway, that's just something I found today. But anyway, going to Sean Potter, I just want
[1:33:13] to read his cover letter. He says, I'm enthusiastic to submit my bio and resume for the recently
[1:33:19] vacated planning and zoning commission position. With robust background in education,
[1:33:24] volunteerism and a distinguished career, particularly as the director of institutional research
[1:33:30] at Tulane University, I am confident in my ability to make valuable contributions to the commission,
[1:33:37] utilizing my strong analytical and strategic perspective. My comprehensive experience in both quantitative
[1:33:44] given qualitative research has cultivated my skills in data driven decision making.
[1:33:50] More importantly, however, I am a resident of the West Side of Manaville, driven by a deep commitment
[1:33:55] to promoting the health, safety, welfare, and aesthetics of the community in alignment with the Chloro.
[1:34:02] Drawing upon my past experiences in leadership positions, I am poised to play a positive role in the future of our city.
[1:34:09] I welcome the opportunity to discuss how my expertise in dedication can benefit the commission.
[1:34:13] Thank you for considering my application sincerely, Sean Potter.
[1:34:18] So without time, everything up, I just want to run through his resume, service experience.
[1:34:22] He's, he's presently on the Man of O Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, 2024 to present.
[1:34:30] He's currently on the Man of O Park's and Parkways Commission since 2023.
[1:34:35] I personally worked with him for almost two years and he's as a calm presence but very, very knowledgeable.
[1:34:41] two-lane university staff senator. He's from 2023 to current. He's a leadership
[1:34:49] leadership same-taminy class of 2024 graduate. So he just graduated from
[1:34:54] leadership same-taminy. He's the Woodstone subdivision HOA president for two
[1:35:00] years running 2022 to 2024. And then we can go into a little bit about his
[1:35:07] profile, he has institutional research directed with a master of business
[1:35:12] administration and over 20 years experience in data analyst analysis.
[1:35:18] He's a decision support strategic planner, business intelligence solutions for
[1:35:23] higher education institutions, adept in identifying, executing analytical
[1:35:27] studies to support operational and strategic decisions.
[1:35:31] Effectiveness is facilitated by self-motivation combined with my
[1:35:35] analytical and creative traits.
[1:35:37] Analytical skills foster my ability to assess complex
[1:35:41] data sets and situations, implement analysis techniques
[1:35:45] and plans, and motivate a pursuit for knowledge.
[1:35:49] Creative attributes are expressing my ability
[1:35:51] to establish and maintain relationships
[1:35:53] while I'm providing accepting change.
[1:35:56] So he works with Tulane University,
[1:35:59] one of the largest employers in the state.
[1:36:01] So I think that shows that he's,
[1:36:02] And he's a progress that he's really good with that, able to work with other people.
[1:36:08] MBA from the Southeast and Louisiana University, and undergrad from USM in Hattiesburg.
[1:36:15] So I think that's Sean Potter, that's our nomination.
[1:36:22] And then I think Miss Councilwoman Thompson had something that she wanted to possibly.
[1:36:26] Well, yeah, part of the reason and I want all the members that actually took the time to put an application and truly appreciate it because people don't want to serve in the public anymore.
[1:36:39] So for all three, I absolutely thank you for doing that.
[1:36:42] But did you make that map and do you have it where it can be brought up on the screen?
[1:36:46] The number one issue that I see for my area is the fact that, and he responds to it, drainage projects.
[1:36:58] When my neighborhood, people are getting variances on putting culverts in, putting walls in, putting this in.
[1:37:08] and when I talk to planning department, they said we can't control what your HOA allows or don't allow.
[1:37:16] We can't keep up with it.
[1:37:18] And one of the key things is having people that live on this side of the city to drive by and see what is going on,
[1:37:27] to see what is happening, to see what's happening in the neighborhoods, to see what commercial constructions going in,
[1:37:34] And because I was before I was to the seat, there was something going on in our neighborhood
[1:37:40] where somebody was building a pool that turned into a pool, turned into a 10 foot wall around,
[1:37:45] it turned into a house, an actual pool house, and apparently they got a variance for a covert
[1:37:51] that is a 10-inch covert which needs to be in a 24-inch drainage way.
[1:37:56] So what's going to happen with that 10-inch covert is going to block yet more water
[1:38:00] and they got a variance from planning and zoning
[1:38:04] and that was the one conversation I had with each candidate,
[1:38:08] what is the number one issue with the West side?
[1:38:12] Today, which was really interesting,
[1:38:14] ignoring the alligator that was back in a ditch,
[1:38:18] water started flowing from Boervage
[1:38:20] over into the sanctuary neighborhood.
[1:38:22] So I had a homeowner go,
[1:38:23] I think there's a broken water main.
[1:38:25] It wasn't a broken water main.
[1:38:27] It's where public works was digging out the ditches
[1:38:29] in Beau Ravage where they could finally flow.
[1:38:31] They flow through the sanctuary.
[1:38:34] So when we look at that, I agree.
[1:38:37] All three are very strong candidates.
[1:38:40] We need somebody that we need a couple of people
[1:38:44] that they actually drive home to what's going on.
[1:38:49] They can see what's going on.
[1:38:50] They can understand because everybody that comes up
[1:38:55] with a variance, I don't think the planning
[1:38:57] and zoning commissioners are going to drive
[1:38:59] to that house to see what the impact of a culvert is going to be and that was my number one thing.
[1:39:06] I wanted somebody from the western side that they live there. They work there. Their decisions
[1:39:12] impact their neighbors and planning and zoning is not just one issue. It is all of ours and just
[1:39:21] even to try to get people to want to put their names forward on this. This was huge and that right
[1:39:28] right there was my number one reason of selecting Mr. Potter because we've got to have somebody
[1:39:35] that works and lives in the area to see what's going on because these variances have got
[1:39:41] to stop. They're affecting so many people. So that was one of the things I wanted to stress
[1:39:47] on that. And I think, you know, Mr. Potter had experience too with just kind of what happens
[1:39:53] around when the builder is doing things and then Woodstone definitely had significant
[1:39:59] impacts on with drainage way was going on there so he understands what's going on and
[1:40:06] a lot of the issues that affect our city. Mr. Chairman, can I just add a question for
[1:40:12] the I guess the selection committee because in my four years on the previous council and
[1:40:20] in my terms so far in this council,
[1:40:21] there's been a lot of discussion
[1:40:22] about district representation on planning and zoning.
[1:40:27] So I'm kind of curious with council
[1:40:29] with applicants from district three,
[1:40:32] district two and district one,
[1:40:34] three qualified candidates
[1:40:36] and entering into the comprehensive plan
[1:40:40] which the planning and zoning commission
[1:40:42] is the only one that votes on that.
[1:40:44] The council does a vote on it
[1:40:46] and we do have representation
[1:40:48] from two of the districts, but nobody from district two.
[1:40:52] How did we arrive on selecting not the district two council person to
[1:40:58] collaborate with on this decision, and how do we end up with a nomination that is?
[1:41:03] Well, actually, let me take that.
[1:41:06] If we wanted to have true representation for each district,
[1:41:09] we would have to ask somebody from district three to step down from planning and zoning.
[1:41:16] But no, that's what I'm saying.
[1:41:18] We don't have a solid representation to begin with.
[1:41:22] We've got four dots that are within three streets of each other and it became more of who
[1:41:32] lived on the other side of North Callsway so that the West Side is not ignored when
[1:41:39] these variances come up because it's affecting the neighborhood on three different neighborhoods
[1:41:45] of what's going on.
[1:41:46] So that was basically decision because if we wanted true representation per
[1:41:52] District, then I would say two of those people need to give up their seats that are within two streets of each other. Okay
[1:42:01] I hear you again
[1:42:03] I just would like to finish my phone and then I'll be quiet for the rest of the conversation because I know we're not voting to
[1:42:08] Okay, but hold on you asked her a question. You asked us a question
[1:42:12] I have a follow-up on this chairman.
[1:42:14] Okay, you may follow up, but she was only answering your question.
[1:42:17] I understand.
[1:42:18] I just like follow-up and I promise I'll be quiet during that.
[1:42:20] That's all I know, you welcome to talk.
[1:42:22] So all I'm saying is, again, I've heard this argument about district representation constantly
[1:42:31] for the four and a half years I've been on the council.
[1:42:35] I've heard it before, we're getting ready to vote on a comprehensive master plan
[1:42:39] that is going to be voted on by the seven council members.
[1:42:43] I understand what you're saying.
[1:42:45] Commission members.
[1:42:46] Commission members, I'm sorry.
[1:42:48] Because we won't get enough opportunity.
[1:42:50] And I do understand that point.
[1:42:51] However, for some reason, I just feel that
[1:42:55] if we already had a district two person
[1:42:57] and we were putting another district two person on it
[1:43:00] and there was nobody from district one,
[1:43:02] we wouldn't be having the same conversation.
[1:43:04] So I'm just asking how was that really arrived at
[1:43:08] and why did we not include the district two?
[1:43:10] Okay, so I'll answer that question.
[1:43:12] Council member.
[1:43:13] So I was the one that had this map created.
[1:43:16] If you look at the map, I'm colorblind,
[1:43:18] but I believe that's pink.
[1:43:20] It looks pink.
[1:43:21] That's a substantial amount of land
[1:43:22] that you only have one person representing
[1:43:25] and he's in fountain blue.
[1:43:27] This land that moves to the left,
[1:43:30] to your, I believe that's your right,
[1:43:32] that runs into what's the name of that river,
[1:43:37] we just did the landlots. I mean, this is all wet lands. We have huge development,
[1:43:42] probably the most development in the city, at the present, is in the sanctuary. With multi-million
[1:43:48] dollar homes, as Councilwoman Strong Thompson mentioned, there's lots of issues that are present in
[1:43:55] the sanctuary that are not properly being properly addressed. Now, if you move over to the blue area,
[1:44:01] if I'm not mistaken, it's in the middle of the city.
[1:44:05] It's separated somewhat.
[1:44:07] It is separated by a causeway boulevard granted.
[1:44:11] But look at the amount of people that are the two
[1:44:16] of the candidates and they're fine candidates.
[1:44:18] I know one of them for over 30, 20 years.
[1:44:20] And the other one, very nice person.
[1:44:22] I'd love to get both of them on there.
[1:44:25] All my point is that I made is that these, excuse me,
[1:44:29] I'm trying to speak,
[1:44:32] I don't want to be interrupted because I don't want to have to go through this twice.
[1:44:39] These, if you look at the cluster of people, if there are blocks away from each other.
[1:44:44] I drove today from my office, which is at West Causeway, to my house to get dressed.
[1:44:49] It's almost a mile from my office to hermitage.
[1:44:54] So, you basically, the closest applicant is
[1:45:00] As a mile from the other, from West Causeway, I just think it's another cluster of people. So, there's no offense to Mr. Bergera or Mr. Rosenow. They're fine, excellent candidates. It's just that in this situation, I think if you take the majority of the land in the city and divide it all up, you're underrepresented on the west side of town. And that is the reason why when it came down to pick a selection that we thought, if there had been another candidate that came from the
[1:45:29] Westside and I think Mr. I talked with Councilman with Kevin and he mentioned they wish they
[1:45:39] had another candidate from the Westside. I'm just letting you know that we need balance
[1:45:44] representation and that's probably the second strongest criteria that we're going off.
[1:45:49] And then the fact is that our candidate that we selected, he's a great candidate. You can't knock
[1:45:57] his resume, and accordingly, he's well-qualified.
[1:46:01] I mean, this is excellent resume.
[1:46:02] So we should be looking, this is the recommendation
[1:46:05] that we made, this is the rules that we set originally,
[1:46:08] the rule was gonna be Jason and I,
[1:46:10] the two councilmen at large, which we were fine with,
[1:46:13] but district members felt like it wasn't fair.
[1:46:16] So I agreed to give that courtesy
[1:46:18] to my fellow councilpeople, but now it looks like
[1:46:23] we're going down a different route.
[1:46:25] Now, y'all might not agree with me,
[1:46:26] but this is a strictly land base.
[1:46:29] This is not on district.
[1:46:31] Okay.
[1:46:32] Okay, and that's my opinion.
[1:46:33] And now you can go, Ms. McGuire.
[1:46:34] Okay.
[1:46:35] I just want to give some history.
[1:46:39] I don't want to go down a rabbit hole.
[1:46:40] However, four years, this has always been an issue.
[1:46:44] It was an issue before I was on the council.
[1:46:46] And I was going to the meetings
[1:46:48] because I was planning on running.
[1:46:50] The former council tried to figure it out.
[1:46:53] We tried to figure it out our last term.
[1:46:55] I have never been happy with how this turns out.
[1:46:59] It's always a debacle.
[1:47:03] Once upon a time, and I'm bringing this up for a reason.
[1:47:08] Once upon a time, the way the city did it was they had a council,
[1:47:14] the council members of each district nominated someone from their district.
[1:47:20] when I got on on 2020 that was a very unpopular opinion.
[1:47:25] They were kind of tired with that and they decided in one of the reasons that I was
[1:47:31] always told that everybody was kind of having issues with it is that before I came along
[1:47:38] the word on the street was nobody really cares and district one, nobody cares and
[1:47:44] district two, we can't get anybody to apply.
[1:47:46] Well, let me tell you something. I've been on the council for four years.
[1:47:52] Each one of these wonderful people that have applied and are so qualified, it's not
[1:47:59] even funny, we've had to turn down more than we've had to turn them down at least once.
[1:48:05] They keep applying. We don't want to lose people that care and are qualified and are vested
[1:48:13] in our community and want to show up and come to these meetings. We've had
[1:48:18] issues with I've personally gone to commission meetings where at least they
[1:48:23] had a quorum but they only had four members show up. Well, when you have a
[1:48:28] work session and the next time you have to vote and you could have two to three
[1:48:34] members that weren't even at the work session. That's a problem. I thank you all
[1:48:39] for applying. I hate being in this position and having to turn or turn away to people that are
[1:48:46] extremely qualified and want to do good for the city. I feel that what happened was
[1:48:54] District 3 ended up with six members on there and it came in the spirit of we want the best
[1:49:02] qualified. I get that. I love my district. I think that every person currently on
[1:49:10] planning and zoning takes their job seriously. We never purposely want to leave
[1:49:14] out a district would would would be fair and just and I love all of them. But what's
[1:49:20] happened to me in the past is I was told you can't put anybody. I never got an
[1:49:26] opportunity to recommend someone from my district because I was told we had two
[1:49:32] many people on District 3. So then I picked someone from District 1, the only
[1:49:38] non District 3 member I picked and the District 1 Council person at that time
[1:49:47] picked someone in District 3. Then you had an experience with the District 2
[1:49:55] council member and you picked your first choice was district two and that
[1:50:03] council member said nope not doing it and he picked someone from district three
[1:50:08] I cannot tell you how important it is as council members for us to represent
[1:50:17] our districts and I feel part of that representation is putting someone on
[1:50:26] planning and zoning in each district and what happened now and the reason why
[1:50:32] I voted it why I voted against having the two at large council members I
[1:50:38] felt that it was an imbalance of power I don't think that the council members
[1:50:44] members out large should pick all of the planning and zoning members without input from
[1:50:50] the district. Now what's happened is our district two council member wasn't even given
[1:50:59] the opportunity to be on the committee. No one is on the planning and zoning commission
[1:51:07] that represents District 2, and they haven't been since, I believe, Commissioner Nixon,
[1:51:16] Adams, retired, when he retired, no one has represented District 2.
[1:51:24] May I point out, in District 2, we have two planned urban developments that have come
[1:51:30] before the council, and they both have gone before the courts.
[1:51:34] It is an area that needs to be represented and they need to have a voice.
[1:51:43] I understand everything you all said about District 1 and I would love to help you
[1:51:51] champion those causes, however you have someone at least you have one person currently
[1:52:00] serving District 1.
[1:52:01] and there's no one for District 2, and I just think it's sad and depressing that the District
[1:52:11] 2 member reached out and said, hey, I want to be on this committee, I want to be involved
[1:52:16] in this.
[1:52:17] And they weren't given that.
[1:52:17] I think I want to do a point of order.
[1:52:19] You're challenging who was nominate or who was asked to discuss this.
[1:52:24] That needs to stop.
[1:52:26] It's not a debate.
[1:52:26] Yeah, this is not a debate of how this was chosen, and I would say if the House had not been finished in the sanctuary
[1:52:32] technically Mr. Potter
[1:52:35] Was district two was district two until three weeks ago and so I go back to
[1:52:43] There is a significant portion of the city of Mandaville that a lot of people don't want to recognize that three weeks ago that blue dot would have been in the blue
[1:52:53] I am offended
[1:52:54] We did. Absolutely offended that you're challenging how the representation is going on.
[1:53:01] Mr. Chairman, let me speak. I've given you all time and I've been very generous. No, no, let me speak. Jason, I'm the chair.
[1:53:08] I'm just saying it like a corner when you finish, please. I'm going to say something. You can't say things and not let's get a response.
[1:53:15] First of all, I just want to make a comment. There's only two people that can be appointed for this committee.
[1:53:21] So I chose myself. I'm the chair
[1:53:25] Secondly, I have to make a choice I offered it to another district member and they declined so then I offered it
[1:53:31] I didn't I can't split it and give half to Kevin and I can't split it and give half to Cynthia
[1:53:37] I'm forced to make a choice between the two so I can't be blamed and said I need pick two and two doesn't have someone up there
[1:53:45] Look, I wasn't on the council four years ago
[1:53:48] this should have never happened. We shouldn't be in this situation, but I'm not finished. I'm not finished. I gave you all
[1:53:55] time to speak. I'm going to finish speaking. This city map is all you need to look at. And what we're trying to say
[1:54:02] here is we understand, but look at the cluster of people that are on the blue and yellow. That is where all the
[1:54:09] power in the city lies. The city's structure is designed as district one, two, and three. Granted, we have a
[1:54:16] from each district and we have two at large. We don't have that set up here.
[1:54:21] What we have here is everything's in district three, nothing in two, and one person in one.
[1:54:26] So it tells me that we not only have, we have more than one issue with this whole situation.
[1:54:32] Now, I'm not going to say any more. I'm going to let, we nominated our candidate.
[1:54:38] I don't know if we need to have any more debate about it. I think the debate comes next week.
[1:54:42] it states here, nomination of candidate.
[1:54:45] I spoke, Cynthia spoke.
[1:54:48] Mr. Chairman, I've asked for the floor several times.
[1:54:50] And I'll ask, I'm going to let you speak.
[1:54:51] And that's it.
[1:54:52] Thank you.
[1:54:52] Now wait, surely someone's going to let me talk.
[1:54:55] I'm going to let that hate governor always do,
[1:54:57] but let's wrap it up.
[1:54:58] I would like to make a point.
[1:55:00] And because I'm going to, I'm going
[1:55:02] to object to Ms. Wrong Thompson's objection
[1:55:04] because I've got a real problem with this.
[1:55:06] And it's happened to me up here before.
[1:55:08] for. Miss McGuire has earned the right to voice her opinion up here. You may not like
[1:55:13] it. I've been on the council. I've served a previous term and I've had other council
[1:55:18] members speaking. Things I flat out didn't agree with. But I've never yelled at them and
[1:55:23] I've never told them they don't have the right to do it. Miss McGuire was making a point.
[1:55:26] She absolutely has the right to question everything anybody does on this council. And I think
[1:55:31] you're out of order. I wanted to make that point. Thank you.
[1:55:34] I also would like to say that I was the other council member that was approached to make
[1:55:39] this decision.
[1:55:40] I didn't want to step on the toes of council of district one and district two because
[1:55:46] I feel that my district is most definitely represented.
[1:55:50] And I called Kevin and told him, look, I've been asked to do this.
[1:55:57] Do you want me to take this ball or would you like it?
[1:56:00] He said, I would like the ball.
[1:56:01] and then he reached out to Scott. Scott decided not to, and that's fine. That's fine.
[1:56:07] But what we have here, and what I would really love,
[1:56:12] is I would love to hear from the District 2 constituents about how they feel about this.
[1:56:19] How do they feel about the fact that no one is on the Planning and Zoning Commission representing them?
[1:56:28] And let me also state, let me go back to the whole qualification thing.
[1:56:34] These candidates are beautifully qualified.
[1:56:38] So we're not talking about the fact that someone in district, one of these is not qualified.
[1:56:44] They are so qualified.
[1:56:45] So for me, maybe I should have taken you up on the offer and been on the committee because
[1:56:51] As I would have, as a deal breaker said, all right, they're all qualified.
[1:56:55] They all want to serve, and it's obvious because they've all applied more than once.
[1:57:02] Then let's look at what's going down the pipeline.
[1:57:06] We've got the comp plan going on, and we've got some big major developments that are probably
[1:57:12] going to come back before planning and zoning.
[1:57:16] And I just want to, Jason's the one that pointed this out to me, so I wanted to make sure
[1:57:20] that everybody heard this part the reason why we're bringing up the comp plan is that we don't get to vote on it.
[1:57:26] The council doesn't vote on it. It's the commission that's going to vote on it.
[1:57:30] It means that District 2 is not going to be represented if we take this nomination again.
[1:57:37] I love Sean. I think he would do a great job but I'm so concerned about it's not an east side west side thing.
[1:57:44] We've got a middle. Okay. District two is very much part of the city and deserves a voice just like district one and district three do.
[1:57:52] Okay, so thank you. So we're going to wrap this up. I'll let you speak. Mr. Councilman.
[1:57:56] I promise you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Let me start by saying thank you to Councilman Zuckeren Councilman Guyer for your kind words and for standing up in support of a district two.
[1:58:06] I'm an optimist. I'm a glass of full kind of guy. I want to start off with the best news of the night as I see it.
[1:58:12] We have an embarrassment of riches.
[1:58:14] We have three highly motivated, mandavilions, super qualified, and that's great.
[1:58:21] And to Mr. Potter and his wife who are here today, I will tell you publicly what I told
[1:58:26] you on the phone earlier today.
[1:58:28] If the council confirms your appointment, I know that you will do a great job, and I have
[1:58:33] absolute confidence that you would, and you're clearly very qualified and experienced.
[1:58:37] You've applied three times, it's your third time, and we all appreciate that.
[1:58:42] All right, now look,
[1:58:47] you can,
[1:58:50] at the end of the day,
[1:58:54] the planning, zoning commission is
[1:58:56] going to make all of these decisions that affect the lives and the property of the people
[1:59:01] that live in the city of Mandaville.
[1:59:04] And I get your argument, Mr. Chair, I do.
[1:59:07] I live on the west side, I'm a west side guy.
[1:59:10] The majority of my district lives on the west side.
[1:59:15] I care very much, but one of the things I ran on, the 12X Park.
[1:59:19] There's no fundamental city park on the west side.
[1:59:21] That's an issue important to me.
[1:59:23] The drainage issues on the west side, critically important to me.
[1:59:26] I ran on that as well.
[1:59:28] District two, however, is the only district that straddles both the west and the east.
[1:59:34] District two is the only district that doesn't have a resident on Plany and Zoning.
[1:59:39] and we haven't for quite some time.
[1:59:40] Now, so what you might ask, well, the nice way
[1:59:45] to talk about it are in these lofty ideas
[1:59:49] that all Americans have, due process, representation,
[1:59:53] franchisement, what's the first thing
[1:59:55] that a third grader in American history class
[1:59:59] learns in school?
[2:00:00] No taxation without representation. And I get it. There's not someone that's deep into sanctuary
[2:00:10] boulevage up there. I get that. Mr. Quillin lives on the west side that checks that box.
[2:00:15] He lives in district one that checks that box. When a district one resident has to go to
[2:00:19] planning and zoning and put their property or their life to the commission, they will feel
[2:00:26] No good knowing that they have at least one person that is familiar with the area, that
[2:00:31] they can call on, that can speak to their issues.
[2:00:38] Now, Madam City Attorney, if you like the floor, you can have the floor when I'm done.
[2:00:42] Thank you very much.
[2:00:44] Now, no one from District 2 is going to have that benefit.
[2:00:50] And so, when we get to the master plan rewrite, who is going to be the person on planning and zoning that's going to be familiar with the unique characteristics of District 2?
[2:01:02] When we get to the comprehensive master plan rewrite, who's going to be the person that's intimately familiar with the two largest undeveloped tracks of land in the city, which is the old Copeland property, and which is the portmary property?
[2:01:14] We're not going to have anybody up there.
[2:01:15] Now, it'd be one thing, it'd be one thing if there was no qualified applicants from district two.
[2:01:21] It'd be one thing, if the only applicant from district two, you know, just didn't cut the mustard.
[2:01:28] Now, I'm going to reserve some of my comments for our voting meeting, so I'm not going to get too much
[2:01:32] into it, but I appreciate that because I'm going to reserve some of my comments to the next meeting, too,
[2:01:37] but I do want to say that I'm not finished.
[2:01:39] I thought you just offered me that for a second.
[2:01:40] I'm not finished.
[2:01:41] Take it, take it, take it.
[2:01:42] You addressed the judge by Mr. Rosinoe.
[2:01:46] You're a city attorney.
[2:01:47] You know that's not appropriate?
[2:01:48] His name is Judge Rosinoe.
[2:01:50] I could also call him Colonel Rosinoe because he's a retired 20-year Air Force Colonel.
[2:01:56] He's spent his entire career in the Judd Advocate General.
[2:02:00] Wait.
[2:02:00] You're out of line.
[2:02:01] We're not.
[2:02:01] Point of order.
[2:02:02] This is not who we've nominated at this time.
[2:02:05] This is it.
[2:02:05] I'm the chair.
[2:02:06] So we're going to close it.
[2:02:07] I have one thing to say.
[2:02:08] One more thing to say.
[2:02:09] But one more thing Kevin Kevin but Kevin this is what I want to know Kevin see what you're doing you're turning this into something
[2:02:16] Stop doing that talk calmly. I'm not going to allow me to do this all the time now. Don't do it. All right. Tell you what no
[2:02:22] I'm telling you let's calm it down. I'll be calm. I'm going to very calmly say this one last thing
[2:02:28] I
[2:02:28] Appreciate it. I would never take it away from Councilman strong Thompson that she feels very strongly about the people that live in her district
[2:02:34] I applaud her for that. That's what I'm doing as well to the chairman. I will say this
[2:02:38] You represent everybody in the city of Andeville.
[2:02:42] I don't know how you can show your face in district two knowing that you cut them out of planning and zoning.
[2:02:49] And with that, I'll reserve.
[2:02:51] Okay, so that's, thank you very much, your speech.
[2:02:53] And for you to make that kind of assumption, I think that's kind of low below.
[2:02:57] I am the chairman of the council and I am the councilman at large.
[2:03:01] I received the most votes of anyone that ran for office.
[2:03:04] I campaigned in all areas of the city, and I was well respected in all areas of the city for you to say that is disrespectful.
[2:03:11] Number two, apologize for calling Mr. Rosenel, it should have been judge rose now, people make mistakes, I'm human.
[2:03:18] For me to sit here and try and say that I'm not, that I should be forced to nominate someone else other than who I've chosen with the assistance of the person that we did this because you asked for us to do it.
[2:03:29] But I've voted for your motion when Jason and I had a motion.
[2:03:34] Once again, trying to be maybe working with everybody up here.
[2:03:37] And then now you're going to throw it back on me because you don't like who I chose.
[2:03:40] I think that's just, just in generous.
[2:03:42] With that in mind, the nomination has been made.
[2:03:45] It's Sean Potter, and then that's where it is.
[2:03:48] Now, without further ado, we'll guess we'll go on to number three.
[2:03:53] Okay, we second it.
[2:03:55] No, we need to, that's right, I'm sorry.
[2:03:56] All right, so we need, I think we need public comments, so excuse me.
[2:04:01] I don't think there's a vote according to the resolution.
[2:04:03] I think it's a motion and a second for a number.
[2:04:05] Yeah, I think it is a motion.
[2:04:06] Okay, thank you Jason.
[2:04:07] Mr. Zacherman, I appreciate your help as always.
[2:04:10] So is that correct?
[2:04:12] So we just need to do a second it, so it's going to be voted on the next meeting.
[2:04:20] No, no, we have to vote to accept the nomination.
[2:04:24] Okay, so all in favor say aye.
[2:04:25] I. I. I. Okay.
[2:04:34] No, I don't think you're going to vote. You have to pop public comment for a vote.
[2:04:39] Let's hear from the public.
[2:04:42] I thought we had the public. Okay. Public comment. Who's who wants to go first?
[2:04:50] Please state your name and your address for the record. Thank you.
[2:04:57] I'm Theodore Ralph, 198 Cindy Lou Place, old golden shores.
[2:05:03] That is an excellent map up there, and y'all have had an excellent conversation today.
[2:05:10] One thing that really has struck me for almost the 32 years that I've been here is District
[2:05:18] 2 is a step child.
[2:05:19] Let's get right down to it.
[2:05:22] I like the idea of Mr. Potter being over here.
[2:05:25] at least we'll have two on the west side because we keep talking about Port Marony and we keep
[2:05:32] talking about Sue Kett. Well, you're about ready to have another one in front of you very shortly.
[2:05:38] The city had it about 15 years ago and it's a very good chance that you're going to have another
[2:05:44] lawsuit. It would really be nice if we did have someone from District 2, particularly on the west
[2:05:52] side of District 2 that we would have that person to go to to talk about this situation
[2:06:01] that's coming up.
[2:06:08] I get it about the cluster up here.
[2:06:14] I don't know how you really straighten out this inequity but it is a very serious inequity.
[2:06:21] Thank you.
[2:06:22] Thank you for your comment.
[2:06:23] Do we have anybody else from the back that would like to speak?
[2:06:26] No one wants to speak Miss Becky can you please come up stage your full name and address for the record. Thank you very much.
[2:06:35] Robert Carrera about 2525 Lake Shore Drive.
[2:06:39] I appreciate really everything on y'all of all set.
[2:06:44] And I'm glad to see the council is taking so seriously appointment for planning and zoning because it's one of our most important operations.
[2:06:54] But I think when I look back over the decades and heard every council go through exactly what y'all done tonight and all the other iterations that have come up, I would like to point out a couple of things.
[2:07:15] A good P and Z person will educate himself about every aspect in the city and address it right.
[2:07:27] And when you want to appoint people who are willing to spread broadly.
[2:07:32] And as for the underrepresented district two, I think you're overlooking a couple of things.
[2:07:38] the chairman of P&C for over 30 years came from District 2 and he made it a point to learn
[2:07:45] his job and his craft and spread it all over the city, everything that is in the present
[2:07:52] chloro book, which was written while he was chairman, chose his influence.
[2:08:00] You're also overlooking the way the yellow of District 3 bumps out over into District 2.
[2:08:10] You're overlooking the present chairman and how passionately involved he was in the
[2:08:16] two undeveloped properties that you keep referring to in District 2.
[2:08:21] That's his neighborhood.
[2:08:22] He doesn't care where those little lines are drawn or what color the Districts are.
[2:08:27] He got out and worked for what he thought was the right thing to do for his broader neighborhood
[2:08:35] It's almost insulting to say that
[2:08:39] Distribute you're not represented on the count on the P and Z board. It's highly represented and that's just current personalities
[2:08:47] The other point I'd like to make that none of you have thought of is
[2:08:51] The way turnover is happening and will happen during your tenure on zoning.
[2:08:58] Zoning is a seven-year appointment. It's a long time.
[2:09:02] And it takes that long for a person to really learn about zoning law and how to properly apply it.
[2:09:10] Often people for family business reasons have to resign before that seven years is up.
[2:09:17] You're going to have turnover.
[2:09:20] Don't fret yourselves and hang yourselves on this one appointment this time.
[2:09:26] You're going to have more opportunities and more people considered.
[2:09:31] Please get the best person for our entire family.
[2:09:35] Thank you for your comment.
[2:09:38] Do we have anybody else from the back of the audience that we'd like to speak?
[2:09:44] You can speak.
[2:09:45] Come on up. Please state your name and address and thank you for coming.
[2:09:50] Chloe Potter, Sean's wife. We live at 19 Cardinal and we are in District 1.
[2:09:57] Up until a few weeks ago when we moved there, we lived in District 2.
[2:10:03] And we bought our family home in District 2. Our children attend school in District 2.
[2:10:08] I've lived in District 1 for 38 years of my life here.
[2:10:12] except when I went off to college for those six years too long.
[2:10:18] But anyway, and Sean, I know he, in his heart,
[2:10:24] to do what's right for our whole city of Mandible.
[2:10:27] I, as his wife, this is my home, I've been here my entire life.
[2:10:31] And he hasn't actually.
[2:10:34] So he has me behind him because my family is still here.
[2:10:39] We're in district one, our kids, I mean, we occupy district two on a daily basis, we care about it, we love it, I know he's not currently residing in district two, but we have background there, we raised our family there, our kids go to school there, and I know Sean would be a good representative of all districts in our entire community, and that's it, thank you.
[2:11:03] Thank you so much for your, for coming up.
[2:11:07] Is there anybody else that would like to speak from the back of the audience?
[2:11:11] Okay, there's no other, and point of city attorney.
[2:11:18] Do we have to do a roll call to accept the nomination?
[2:11:25] Or is it just a nomination, it's just a first and a second?
[2:11:29] I would think maybe that's the appropriate.
[2:11:30] it because we are making the nomination. How can the nomination not?
[2:11:37] Correct.
[2:11:38] Pass.
[2:11:39] Question nine says and I'll read it again. These two council members shall make a motion
[2:11:44] in a second nominating an individual for selection and appointment to the commission's
[2:11:49] period.
[2:11:50] Yes, so we make the nomination. So the nomination is Sean Potter and then I think we move
[2:11:55] on to number three. Is that correct?
[2:11:57] Okay, so thank you for coming today, Sean and Chloe, and we'll have a decision on this, looks like it's going to be November 21st.
[2:12:09] And then on number three, if that's okay to everybody, good discussion, let's move on to number three, approval of date change for the December Council meeting, the change meeting from December 12th to December 19th, I just need a motion in a second.
[2:12:21] Fifth.
[2:12:24] Second second, thank you.
[2:12:25] Councilman Zuckerman.
[2:12:26] All in favor say aye.
[2:12:28] Aye.
[2:12:28] Okay, thank you.
[2:12:30] That's approved.
[2:12:31] The-the December Councilman meeting will be note your fouls December 19th.
[2:12:38] Number four,
[2:12:41] approval of substantial-
[2:12:45] December 19th?
[2:12:47] So, if I'm not mistaken, can someone correct me?
[2:12:50] We only have two more meetings, is that correct?
[2:12:52] November 21st and December 19th, so no take your calendars.
[2:12:59] I'm trying to speak up here, please, Mr. Brigadier, thank you.
[2:13:05] Come on, y'all, let's have some respect.
[2:13:08] Number four, approval of substantial completion.
[2:13:12] Roadway and drainage maintenance task order six, seven and a motion.
[2:13:17] I need a motion in second.
[2:13:18] I move.
[2:13:19] Second.
[2:13:21] Okay, we need a discussion.
[2:13:23] You want to handle this?
[2:13:24] Is this an introduction or this is an approval?
[2:13:26] That's an approval, okay.
[2:13:27] Thank you, so we'll have our public works director.
[2:13:31] I appreciate if you would let us know what's going on here please.
[2:13:36] Or I'll take it, bus align, digital engineering.
[2:13:39] This is to allow the city to grant substantial completion for three task orders
[2:13:44] under the 2022 road and drainage maintenance contract.
[2:13:48] The task order six, seven, and eight.
[2:13:50] All the services within those will be formed and inspected.
[2:13:52] and so we're asking now to allow the mayor to execute those documents.
[2:14:01] Okay, thank you.
[2:14:02] So do we have any motion and second?
[2:14:06] I guess all we need is there's no other discussion, any discussion for any council members up here?
[2:14:11] You need to ask for a comment for it.
[2:14:13] Yeah, and then we'll do public comment, any questions from the public?
[2:14:16] Okay, and there's no questions from the public.
[2:14:18] We will go ahead and put this out for an A. All in favor say aye.
[2:14:23] Aye.
[2:14:24] So it's approved.
[2:14:25] So substantial completion, task order 6, 7, and 8 is approved.
[2:14:32] And then we'll go number 5, approval of change order number 1, for
[2:14:37] harbor field upgrades, I just need a motion and a second, please.
[2:14:42] Motion.
[2:14:43] Second.
[2:14:44] Thank you.
[2:14:45] Both of you, councilwoman, we have somewhat y'all want to take this one too.
[2:14:51] Okay, thank you.
[2:14:51] Sure.
[2:14:52] Tina to one adds roughly $32,000 in construction costs or for the Hall of the Field Upgrades
[2:14:58] project.
[2:14:59] Some of the
[2:15:00] Additional work was added during the construction phase and negotiated with KBSs here, violence here as well, and the contractor. It increased the total contract value from just over 1.3 million, 1.375 to 1.4 million dollars, and it also added 87 days to the contract time, due to some delays when they were relocating a click on energy line. Thank you for the information. Do we have any discussion from
[2:15:31] How many of the council people up here, persons, any discussion from the public?
[2:15:38] Please state your name and address, and I appreciate you coming up to speak.
[2:15:42] Theodore Ralph, 198 Cindy Lou, please, ogle and show us.
[2:15:47] Did I hear you right?
[2:15:49] We spent 1.4 million on Harvard field.
[2:15:52] Total.
[2:15:53] That is correct.
[2:15:54] Thank you.
[2:15:58] Okay, so any other public comment, if there's no other public comment, we will
[2:16:03] go ahead and do an all in favor say aye.
[2:16:06] Aye.
[2:16:08] Okay, so that's approved.
[2:16:09] So we approved charge order number one for
[2:16:12] Harborfield upgrades.
[2:16:14] Then we go into number six.
[2:16:16] We got introduction of ordinance 24-39 in
[2:16:19] ordinance of the city council of the city of
[2:16:21] Manabelle to amend ordinance number 24-23.
[2:16:25] The capital budget of the city of
[2:16:27] Manabelle and for other matters in connection there with.
[2:16:31] Could I please get a motion?
[2:16:32] motion.
[2:16:33] A second.
[2:16:33] Is there a second?
[2:16:34] Second.
[2:16:35] Okay.
[2:16:36] Thank you, ladies.
[2:16:38] That's just an introduction so we don't need to vote.
[2:16:42] Number seven, adoption of Resolution 24-62.
[2:16:45] This is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mandeville accepting the bids for
[2:16:49] the sewer and water maintenance project and authorizing the mayor to execute a contract
[2:16:54] with the parent low bidder, subterranean construction LLC and providing for other matters and connection
[2:17:00] there with, I could use a motion and a second, please.
[2:17:03] Motion.
[2:17:04] Second.
[2:17:05] And would there be any discussion from the council?
[2:17:08] Let's throw it over to public works.
[2:17:10] Oh, yeah, I'm sorry.
[2:17:11] You want to take care of this, Mr. Lawrence?
[2:17:13] Yeah, the prior 2021 sewer and water maintenance contract was
[2:17:17] expiring this year to city advertise for a new project at 2024.
[2:17:21] Sewer and water maintenance project and two bids were received on October 9th.
[2:17:26] They were evaluated and subjecturing everyone was found to be responsible and
[2:17:30] lowest bidder. So basically the contract documents have put forward to go ahead for approval.
[2:17:37] Thank you very much. Okay, so with this subterranean has been doing
[2:17:41] our other projects right now, too, correct? That is correct. Okay, one of the things I noticed
[2:17:46] were when we have to do a lot of change orders throughout, because there was a significant
[2:17:51] difference between these two bids, but they are the ones that have been doing the work so
[2:17:56] far, correct? That's correct. They had to provide a contract.
[2:17:59] Okay. And just to add, the numbers really higher than let than the previous 2021 because we added
[2:18:05] the, what we call, see I cook in place pipe, CIPP lining. So that's a whole separate line item in
[2:18:11] the capital budget that, yeah, that's where you lawn in the interior of a pipe, cook it to 800 degrees
[2:18:15] and it makes a new pipe inside. Just some of these corrugated metal pipes and they're in backyards and
[2:18:22] it just, it saves, it saves. So part of this pricing is some of the improvements
[2:18:25] that you discussed before. Okay, thank you, sir.
[2:18:32] Excuse me. Thank you. Any other comment from the public, from the council? Anything from you guys? Okay. Thank you. And then anything from the public?
[2:18:43] Okay, so we can go all in favor say aye.
[2:18:45] Aye.
[2:18:47] Okay, thank you. That's been adoption. We have adopted Resolution 2462. Now we'll go into public comment. Do we have any public comment?
[2:18:59] Okay, so I guess we'll just do a motion in a second if we go to our adjournment.
[2:19:05] Motion.
[2:19:06] I second it.
[2:19:09] Okay, meeting adjourned.
[2:19:11] Thank you.