[0:04] like to call the June 11th, 2026 meeting to order at 207. Machines are open for

[0:11] roll call.

[0:24] » Let the record show seven members are present. Mr. Newsome's on his way. Mr.

[0:29] Lef France had a funeral today. Could stand up. Mr. Champagne will say

[0:35] the prayer and Mr. Schultz to pledge. Name of the Father, the Son, and the

[0:42] Holy Spirit. We take this moment to acknowledge Almighty God and to thank

[0:47] him for our bountiful blessings, especially for the parish's natural

[0:50] resources. We give thanks to God for our brave and

[0:54] courageous men and women in our military who daily risk their lives to protect

[0:57] our precious freedom. We pray for our world leaders to know how to obtain more

[1:01] peace. We pray that this government body comprised of both council and

[1:06] administration will always serve our parish with honesty, humility, and

[1:10] equality to all. And as this government body gathers here today, we pray for the

[1:16] wisdom to know right from wrong and the courage to do that which is right. Amen.

[1:21] Amen. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[1:26] United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation

[1:31] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:43] » Executive session. You want to go to executive session

[1:48] to executive session. Exe executive session pursuant to LS421782

[1:53] and the Louisiana code of evidence article 506b. The council shall receive

[1:57] attorney privilege communications from its legal council regarding Midway

[2:00] Cattle Ranch LLC at all versus Plaqueman's Parish government. USDCLA

[2:06] 217 CV07468 attorneys Renie S. Burus II and Danny

[2:12] Garrett. Executive session pursuant to LS 4217A2 and Louisiana code of evidence

[2:17] article 506B. The council shall receive attorney privilege communications from

[2:22] its legal council regarding Midway Cattle Ranch LLC versus Pakman's Parish

[2:26] government 25th JDC division A case number 66234 attorneys Renie Sbers II

[2:33] and Danny Garrett. >> I'll ask for a second.

[2:36] » Second by Mr. Jurassic. Any questions from the audience? Administration

[2:42] council machine's open.

[2:49] » Don't let it go. >> Yes.

[2:53] » Yes. >> Let the record show it passes 70 and we

[2:56] going into executive session at 210. Executive session at 228 with no binding

[3:02] action. Can we go to the either the 4H or the blood

[3:13] 11F presentation by Anna Timberman from the LSU Egg Center

[3:31] might need >> Good afternoon. Thanks for having me

[3:33] back. Uh my name is Anna Timberman with the LSU A Center. I'm the ANR agent here

[3:38] in Plaeman's and St. Bernard and soon to be parish chair. I'm not sure if you all

[3:43] heard, but um Mr. Wayne Burgess, who has been with us for 35 years, is retiring

[3:48] at the end of the month. And I'll be assuming some of his administrative

[3:52] duties as well. Uh just giving you guys a quick citrus update since we last met.

[3:57] Um we are on the grant train right now. been submitting a lot of grants in the

[4:02] past year. Um, historically we've had a million and a half citrus trees here in

[4:08] Plaemens. We're down to that should be about 6,000 to 7,000 mature trees in the

[4:12] parish currently. And we are in replant mode with the current um surviving

[4:17] growers as well. We are trying some new things through a partnership with

[4:22] University of Florida. They're sending us some new material, new cultivars to

[4:26] try that are a little more cold hearty um because we did lose quite a few trees

[4:30] in that 2025 blizzard. And we're pursuing state, federal, and nonprofit

[4:35] grants to support the industry. This past March, I had 22 growers come to our

[4:41] citrus meeting that was well attended um not only by the growers, but USDA

[4:45] representatives, soil and water conservation board as well. and we were

[4:49] able to get the people who regulate the industry in the room with the growers

[4:54] for the first time in many years and that was very productive. Um we were

[4:58] able to get a lot of survey data directly from the farmers that assist us

[5:02] in getting grants and resources to them but we also were able to coordinate

[5:07] monitoring for the sids that spread the citrus greening so that we can release

[5:11] the wasps near their groves and it's real-time data so that was a big help

[5:16] for them as well. We're also increasing the um farms uh payouts for disaster,

[5:22] the tree assistance program payouts. Currently, the growers when they lose a

[5:26] tree, they were only getting about $14 a tree to replant. We've now upped that

[5:30] based on current inputs like diesel, fertilizer, and the actual cost of the

[5:34] tree. And that should reflect $113 per tree. Now, if you can do that math,

[5:40] that's a big deal when you're trying to replant a couple hundred trees or per

[5:43] year or even a few thousand trees per year. and it more accurately aligns

[5:48] what's going on with Florida and California's industry as well. So that

[5:52] was a big win for us in the past few months. Um in terms of the removal of

[5:57] derelic trees, we did have some success with that with Raymond from the health

[6:01] department. However, we did have a lot of absentee land owners who we just

[6:05] couldn't either get in touch with or they had maybe removed the trees

[6:09] themselves and there was some outright folks that just didn't want us to take

[6:13] trees out either for sentimental reasons um or they thought they were fine and

[6:18] and things like that. But I was able to map where the citrus trees are in the

[6:23] parish. That's a screenshot from the Google Earth file and that's something

[6:27] that I'm constantly updating so that if we do have further issues or further

[6:31] programs, especially funded federal programs that come down the pipe, we can

[6:35] target these areas and we know exactly where those trees are. Um, so that was

[6:39] kind of a logistical exercise as well, but it's made communication with the

[6:43] different agencies really, really a lot smoother. Um, in terms of replanting

[6:48] this spring and summer, a couple of trees are a couple of growers are

[6:53] budding trees and grafting trees right now for planting into the ground. So,

[6:57] this is separate from the retail nursery side of things. We have a couple retail

[7:00] nursery growers in the parish. These are trees intended to produce fruit in the

[7:05] ground in Plaemen's Parish. We have several thousand trees going in and I

[7:09] was able to provide some budwood for that grafting from my facility in

[7:13] Violet, Louisiana for the first time this year. We're looking at close to

[7:16] 100% success with that genetic material. So, that was a big win as well. And I

[7:21] did three budding workshops in the area for the smaller or newer producers so

[7:26] they could learn that skill and start producing trees for themselves as well.

[7:32] Um, I put in for a LDAF Louisiana Department of A and Forestry Specialty

[7:37] Crop Block Grant this spring. Um, that was funding for the individual tree

[7:41] protective covers. It's basically a screen bag that goes over the young

[7:45] trees for the first three years. That keeps those insects off, keeps them

[7:49] disease-free, gives them a chance to really root in and stay healthy before

[7:53] they get established. And in Florida, 100% of our new trees are going into the

[7:58] bags. In Louisiana, no one's tried it before. Um, but we did have one grower

[8:03] give it a try last year with good success. So through a partnership with

[8:07] the soil and water conservation board, we were able to give the bags away to

[8:10] the growers this spring so that they could try them in the field and then

[8:14] this grant is intended to get enough bags to supplies so that every new tree

[8:19] that goes in the parish goes into a bag has a fighting chance of establishing

[8:24] without getting diseased. Those bags are reusable. They're hurricane proof as

[8:28] well and yield goes up. So we're really crossing our fingers about that one.

[8:33] also put in for a USDA national specialty crop block grant with the

[8:38] University of Florida and the other Southern University Extension Services

[8:42] looking at cold hearty citrus selections, but also disease resistant

[8:46] selections. So, if that goes through, we're going to be able to import a lot

[8:49] of that material into the state and we're going to do field trials right

[8:52] here in the parish. We've got that lined up with four or five growers and that's

[8:56] all new cultivars, including some genetically modified cultivars, which is

[9:00] kind of interesting. We'll be able to play with that a little bit as well. Um,

[9:04] but what we're looking for is increased survivability so that we're not just

[9:08] doing the same thing over and over, planting the same cultivars over and

[9:12] over just to have the trees die in five to seven years.

[9:16] Um, I'm assisting a couple of growers right now with a Sprout Nola urban a

[9:20] grant. So growers outside of the city are eligible for this as well. Up to

[9:25] $10,000 for equipment, services, um, fencing, anything like that. It's due at

[9:31] the end of the month. So, two of our citrus growers are applying for this as

[9:34] well um for equipment upgrades because they sell their citrus in the city and

[9:39] we're anticipating them to be awarded those. There's also the American

[9:44] Farmland Trust um National Farm Viability Grant. I'm working with two

[9:47] producers on that one as well. Again, it's $10,000 towards equipment and

[9:51] infrastructure on farm. And that's to solidify land access but also um tenure

[9:57] and not lose those farmers that are existing farmers.

[10:02] And with that, that's the conclusion of my update. Are there any questions?

[10:06] » Thank you. Any questions from the audience?

[10:09] » Good. Good. >> I got to ask you. Oh, you said the trees

[10:14] they were going to come from Florida. >> They're going to what?

[10:18] » Did you say the trees going to come from Florida?

[10:20] » From Florida. Yes. Um, University of Florida is kind of leading the research

[10:24] edge in terms of new cultivar development. So, I have a partnership

[10:27] with them and they're sending us a lot of things.

[10:31] » So, would that be the Florida variety of trees or the plaque variety? Cuz you

[10:36] know that's a difference. >> So, what gives the plaqueman's variety

[10:40] its flavor though is our soil. So, it shouldn't matter if it comes from

[10:44] Florida, it's the soil. Yep, that's a great question. Same with the Creole

[10:48] tomatoes. Other questions? administration

[10:52] council. >> Okay,

[10:54] » that's McCordi. >> All right.

[10:56] » Yep. Thanks so much. >> Oh, you have a question.

[11:02] » My mic on >> should be

[11:04] » okay. I'm sorry. >> She's in.

[11:06] » Yeah, I was skewed in. >> I'm in now. Thank you. Um, hi, Miss

[11:11] Tamman. You had mentioned a few things and um

[11:17] you said that we're getting some trees with genetic altered material

[11:23] » and that we're also planting some trees down

[11:27] » next year. >> Next year.

[11:29] » Yes. So the crisper technology for roottock is suppressing that bacteria

[11:34] that makes the trees sick in the first place and that is proprietary and

[11:38] there's a lot of legal loopholes to jump through before we can get that. It's

[11:43] also patented so it's not something we can share freely but for research

[11:46] purposes it's kind of one of the four or five things they're looking at

[11:50] nationally but also globally to try to overcome some of the challenges we're

[11:55] having. So the same um roottock that's going through the genically altered in

[12:00] the crisper, >> is that going to be the type that's

[12:06] um resistant to not only canker but cold temperature?

[12:09] » Yeah. So there's some overlap with the breeding programs and I'm working with

[12:13] both breeders. So they're trying to push their citrus range into North Florida

[12:17] and into that panhandle area into Georgia, South Carolina as well. And

[12:21] that's the same climate as us. So a lot of the breeding efforts are including

[12:25] that frost protection because that's been a persistent problem for a couple

[12:29] hundred years where it seems like every 30 to 50 years we get wiped out not only

[12:34] in this area along that I 1012 corridor but south into mid Florida as well. So

[12:40] that's a huge economic driver for them not only the disease resistance but the

[12:44] frost tolerance as well. >> Okay. I believe when you spoke to us

[12:48] last year, you said that there were some some town in mid Louisiana that was um

[12:55] planting trees that were resistant to the canker, I believe, or was it the

[12:58] cold? It was to the cold. So, we have three new cultivars. They're actually

[13:01] hybrid cultivars that were developed in Texas and they're sustained to

[13:06] temperatures into the low to mid teens. Now, they have to be protected when

[13:10] they're young, but once the trees get mature and established, they're able to

[13:13] go to about 16 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. >> If somebody wants to plant trees now,

[13:18] should they try and get those trees or should they wait a year?

[13:22] » It's a really hard question, right? Because trees grow so slowly and I work

[13:27] with a lot of older growers who they need solutions now. Um, but if you're

[13:30] willing to wait a year or two, I think we've got some good things coming. But

[13:34] if you want to replant now, then yes, those three cultivars are Arctic Frost,

[13:38] Orange Frost, and Bumper. And I've got all three in my nursery. They made it

[13:42] through this past winter and last winter. A+. They look great.

[13:46] » Okay. I'm going to have to get those names again.

[13:49] » Arctic Frost, Orange Frost, and Bumper. >> Okay.

[13:52] » Yep. >> Um, now you have a program that will

[13:56] help people remove trees and plant trees. Is that correct? And is it only

[14:00] for professionals? >> It's only for professionals. is not for

[14:03] the home producers, unfortunately. >> Yeah. Okay.

[14:06] » Yep. Um there was a big push a few years ago through Department of A for the

[14:10] residential, but that's has since been discontinued.

[14:13] » Okay. >> Well, thank you very much for all the

[14:15] work that you do. Thank you, >> Mr. Edwards. Uh I think Patty might have

[14:19] answered my my my question. You had a grant, the last grant you put up there.

[14:24] My question is that just for professional farmers looking at

[14:28] nonprofit all they apply for that grant. >> That national farmland trust grant I

[14:32] believe is what you're looking at. So that one's open only to farmers but the

[14:37] sprout nola grant is also open to nonprofits. So if you have a community

[14:42] garden or a nonprofit that's growing produce, that one is not due until June

[14:46] 30th and that is open to you. And if you need help with the application, I'm

[14:49] happy to do so. >> Yeah.

[14:51] » And that's up to $10,000. That's not for you, Mr. Brock. I know

[14:56] you got your little guard talking about you.

[15:00] » Writing it down. >> Any other questions?

[15:02] » Other questions. >> Okay. Thank you. Thanks so much.

[15:05] » Thank you for your service, too. >> Next item. Suspension.

[15:14] » To vote on it. We do >> a suspension.

[15:22] » 11. New business. 11. A introduction of resolutions where suspension is being

[15:26] sought. A resolution authorizing community blood donation efforts during

[15:30] the semi quincentennial of the United States of America and otherwise to

[15:34] provide with respect there too. This is a resolution to mark and celebrate the

[15:37] United States 250th anniversary of signing of the declaration of

[15:41] independence. Council member Newsome >> Mr. Nuome office. Is there a second?

[15:47] Second by Miss McCarti. Any questions from the audience? Administration

[15:52] council chains open on the suspension

[16:02] passes 80. Let the record show Mr. Nuome is now in the building.

[16:09] » A resolution authorizing community blood donation efforts during the

[16:12] semiquentennial of the United States of America and otherwise to provide with

[16:16] respect there too. This is a resolution to mark and celebrate the United States

[16:20] 250th anniversary of signing of the Declaration of Independence. Council

[16:23] member Nuome, >> Mr. Newsome offers a Can we get a

[16:27] unanimous second? Anybody object? Unanimous second.

[16:34] » Any questions from the audience? Administration council Sheen.

[16:42] » Yes, sir. Yes. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh this uh Miss Susie Potter

[16:47] is in the audience here today from the blood center. So uh she's been as we

[16:51] know she's came to this body a couple times to for her tireless work on this

[16:56] this matter. So uh if she'd like to say a few words briefly briefly please keep

[17:01] it briefly. >> Vampires always want to say something.

[17:04] » Yes. Yes ma'am. >> Blood center to honor this particular

[17:07] event. Miss >> Miss Could you put your mic down and

[17:11] name and address please for the record? >> All right. Susie Potter, community

[17:15] development manager for the Blood Center, 2609 Canal Street, New Orleans,

[17:20] 70119. Okay, this special event, we have a

[17:26] slogan for it called Honor the Past, help the future. The reason why the

[17:31] slogan is blood donations represent putting the red in the red, white, and

[17:38] blue. So, we are now coming into the hurricane season.

[17:44] Today, the blood supply stands at 25%. There's all kinds of challenges trying

[17:51] to get people to give blood. I'm not going to go into details. So, I've asked

[17:55] the parish president if I could reach out to his office to sponsor a community

[18:00] blood drive. And what I need from each of you is to promote it. I don't want to

[18:05] have a park and pray. I want people to show up. So to honor the event, they

[18:12] will get a special recognition item. For the first time ever, we are going to

[18:17] give away a black polo. Tada.

[18:25] Tada. So that when people wear it, not only do

[18:30] they have pride of how they acquired it, but they have pride in the

[18:35] representation of our country. So first of all, thank you for passing the

[18:40] resolution. Second of all, thank you for your time, talent, and commitment to the

[18:45] citizens. This is another way of how you all are going to help the citizens of

[18:51] this community. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Thank you, Miss Susie.

[18:55] » Thank you. Any other comments? I I I just want to say something.

[19:00] » Yes, sir. >> Thank you, Miss Susie, for being brief

[19:04] » and please get in touch with the office. We will we will really work with you.

[19:08] » Yes, ma'am. >> I'd give but I'm a chicken.

[19:16] » Machines are open on the order. The resolution.

[19:22] It passes 8. Thank you all. Started the agenda again, please.

[19:34] » For administration updates, >> I'm just going to go through some things

[19:38] real quick. Good afternoon. Uh the EOC with collaboration with a lot of us, all

[19:44] of you and u the administration from here to Baton Rouge. the uh EOC uh went

[19:50] out to advertisements Tuesday and the bids are going to be opened up on July

[19:55] the 7th and construction will begin uh hopefully October of this this year.

[20:02] It's been a long drawn out but we're all learning

[20:06] about government. So, um the Woodland Industrial Park uh advertising started

[20:12] on on the 9th which was Tuesday as well. uh bids opening on July 7th as as well

[20:17] with that. That's the uh project uh under the Woodland Bridge. Uh the St.

[20:22] Bernard flood wall, the piping on that that's been completed. Once the bacteria

[20:27] test passes, then they can tie in both sides on the St. Bernard and the plaque

[20:31] side. The the cast line, the iron cast eastbank cast iron water line, the

[20:38] project's been completed. Uh both the pressure test and the bacteria test,

[20:43] they passed. Now we're just waiting for the contractor to do the tiein on both

[20:46] ends of that. Uh up at with state legislature

[20:50] uh you know we created and we made the Peggy Martin rose the plaqueman's parish

[20:56] flower this year. Now in the state of Louisiana the Peggy Martin rose is the

[21:02] state rose. So that's quite an honor for Miss Martin and I I truly believe for

[21:07] Plaimman's Parish there as well. Uh Rep. bro, he led the charge up there and he

[21:13] had the a vote of 95 to zero in support of that right there. Um

[21:20] BKI, they hosted a uh basically a a a road show at the auditorium

[21:26] uh May 21st there talking about the uh the Peter's bypass uh road and all. And

[21:35] then the uh the woodland up uh highway, you know, they started doing some work

[21:39] uh over the past weekend. Uh Councilman Champagne kind of gave a a

[21:46] description of what's going on. I saw it uh he was had it on Facebook just

[21:50] letting the community know what's going on. Uh so that has to sit for so long

[21:54] and then once they come back they'll they'll uh bring it down 2 in and then

[21:59] they'll do an overlay over that there. Uh and then the roundabout uh proceed

[22:04] was uh proceed to work was done on May 25th and there's a whole litany of

[22:10] things that have to be uh done with that and construction on that is anticipated

[22:13] to start around June 25th this month. Uh what I'd like to do right now is like

[22:19] bring up uh Mr. Morgan with Inframark. Uh we had a lovely article in the

[22:25] Gazette earlier this week. Um, so we're just going to go over some uh uh some

[22:31] items of where we are with the water in collabor and working with this council

[22:36] right here. We've made a lot of progress and it's taken time because we have had

[22:41] to track down monies to do what Robert is fixing to describe and uh Chris and

[22:48] Jeff. So I'm going to turn everything over to those guys here.

[22:53] Yep. >> Jeff, I'll let you go first.

[22:58] You turn Jeff.

[23:03] » Good evening. Good even good afternoon. Uh thank you all. Happy Thursday. Um

[23:11] regarding the uh the water grades, the 2025 water grades. Uh, first I want to I

[23:16] want to lead in by saying this council has been uh very supportive of most of I

[23:22] want to say all of the projects that we brought to you guys. Everybody knows the

[23:26] importance of uh our water uh quality. And I want to start by saying

[23:34] a majority of these grades are not reflective of the quality of water that

[23:39] we're pushing to the public. Most a majority of these deductions are because

[23:45] of aging infrastructure and we are methodically

[23:49] getting to each of these projects to improve our infrastructure.

[23:54] Excuse me. I can start off with each water district uh and briefly explain

[24:00] where the deductions came from. Um I can start with Port Suler Water District. Um

[24:06] that was the lowest with the 46%. Um 25%

[24:12] of I'm sorry 25 points were deducted because of a non-comp administrative

[24:18] order we were issued um couple of years ago ba basically for lack of generators,

[24:24] lack of permanent generators at the facility. We do have temporary

[24:30] generators. It's just the funding and we're we're working towards that. We we

[24:36] are working on some permanent generators at uh Empire Water Plant or the Empire

[24:41] Booster Station I should say. Um an additional 15 points was deducted uh for

[24:48] exceedence of some contaminants. Uh but that was during the saltwater intrusion

[24:54] last year. And basically these contaminants

[24:59] build up with what they call old water. And all of the water

[25:06] utilized south of Belchase was coming from

[25:10] Belchase. So there was some issues with the water sitting at Port Sula because

[25:15] it wasn't being used. Everything was pushed from uh Belchase.

[25:20] Uh and there was some some points some small points deducted uh for some

[25:26] chlorine low chlorine violations due to some water leaks. We found a lot of

[25:31] water leaks last year and um and and and fixed a lot of water leaks and um this

[25:39] was the cause of of some of these uh of a lot of these low chlorine violations.

[25:44] Um, I'll move on to uh the Belchase Water System,

[25:49] which that grade was a 52%.

[25:54] The largest deduction for the Belchase Water Plant was um from an

[26:00] administrative order we received from uh the the water tower repairs back in

[26:06] 2024. for the end of 2024, myself and Robert and Chris um with the help of

[26:13] Inframark, we uh we hired

[26:18] a consultant to start looking at these water towers specifically because we

[26:23] knew there was some uh repairs that needed to be done. Um once we identified

[26:29] some of the repairs, the structural repairs that needed to be done to the

[26:33] water plant, the the the water towers at Cedar Grove, Engineers Road, the one

[26:39] right here on the complex and Dowcore, uh we put together some quotes to to

[26:45] obtain some quotes to get some of these repairs done, but all of the quotes came

[26:50] in above the allowable public bid law. So that kind of put that on the back

[26:57] burner until we could find some more funding.

[27:00] Fast forward to 2025, we got this administrative order

[27:05] or non-compliance. This not a whole lot of difference between the two.

[27:11] But this year we actually got some capital outlay

[27:16] to add on to uh the repairs for these uh water plants. I mean I'm sorry, water

[27:22] towers. So we we cut it in phases. The first phase we're going to use where

[27:28] where we are now where we are now with the consultant that we hired and we're

[27:35] going to do some repairs with some matching funds from the parish and the

[27:40] capital outlay that we're getting this year. We should get it at the end of

[27:43] July, I believe. Um phase two

[27:49] will we're sitting on in P5 in capital. We're sitting on another $6 million.

[27:56] Hopefully next year they'll move that from P5 to B P1 and we could we could uh

[28:02] do the rest of the repairs uh on that administrative order.

[28:10] We'll move up to Dowcore.

[28:16] Dow core had a grade of 78%. And this was four points here, five

[28:24] points here. Um, a lot of it was the uh low chlorine residuals from some from

[28:30] some water leaks that we have since repaired. Um

[28:35] couple of points was was from the administrative order because of the the

[28:39] water tower. Uh and a couple of them for Dow core was deducted because we didn't

[28:47] do a rate study. We did a rate study but it was only applied to the Belchase

[28:52] water system. It wasn't applied across the board. We did a rate study. It just

[28:58] wasn't applied to all of the water systems.

[29:03] Point La Hash, that was our pride and joy. That one got a 91. Um,

[29:11] most of those were uh from a rate study and some of the leaks that we found,

[29:17] little low chlorine residuals. With that said, I'd like to say again,

[29:22] thank you guys for making water our priority. Um, I don't think y'all have

[29:30] denied any requests to do any infrastructure upgrades. Uh, and we are

[29:35] very diligent. We have a list of projects that we I say we this

[29:42] administration with y'all y'all help uh that we have

[29:47] either funded gone after grant funding or completed.

[29:52] Um, I could go through the list but that that'll take some time. But um with

[29:57] that, we'll email you. Yes, I'll I'll forward you this email. But with that,

[30:03] Robin, if y'all have anything to add. >> I just want to say one thing, you know,

[30:07] with with some of the with the ordinance that you guys uh that created with the

[30:12] the the ditch where we can go any in in all of these ditches that, you know, the

[30:17] lateral ditches that we can cut. We found a a water line break last year

[30:22] that wasn't draining out onto a road or anything. it was draining directly into

[30:28] a drainage pipe and it was we thought it was a half a million a day but it was

[30:33] almost as much as a a million gallons a day that that was out there in in the in

[30:38] the weeds in the woods and all. So again >> actions that have been taken here and

[30:44] during these meetings has gotten us a little bit we're down the road with with

[30:50] progress here. Um I would like to um elaborate on a

[30:56] little bit on Jeff like with the chlorine samples um Belchase District

[31:01] let's see we collected um right at 200 no 2373 chlorine samples

[31:08] it we had zero violations um for let's see point laash what is it

[31:15] Chris let's see we collected let's see 1369

[31:20] samples we only had four lowering chlorine residuals. And let's see, for

[31:25] Dale Core, we had seven 7001 samples analyzed and we had four low uh chlor

[31:32] chlorine violations. And reason I bring that up is because I know I probably

[31:37] receive a call from everybody about us flushing. We have to flush. If we don't

[31:41] flush, this the violations we get. And uh I know a lot of residents don't like

[31:45] to see us put water in the ground, but it is mandated by the state. We have to

[31:48] keep this chlorine residual up. Belchase is really good because we have a higher

[31:52] population in Belchase. So, the water is being used more, but Delcore, uh, Point

[31:57] Laash, Port Sulfur, uh, down the road, it's it's it's pretty tough cuz you got

[32:02] a lot of dead end lines. So, you have to keep that water circulating or you're

[32:05] going to get a chlorine violation. Um, but I know a lot of people don't don't

[32:09] like it. I know I have I have moved several hydrants because they say we

[32:12] filling up the dish, but we we have to flush that. That's the main thing. We

[32:15] have to flush with that. So, um, but I'll take some questions if y'all got

[32:18] some questions in. Joe, >> Miss McCarti.

[32:24] » Hello, Mr. Morgan. >> Hey, how you doing?

[32:26] » Um, I have a constituent that, well, actually two that own AC type repair

[32:34] companies and they also work on ice machines and things of that sort. And

[32:39] they keep telling me about all the sand that's in our water. Can you address

[32:43] that and tell me something about that? And I've got another point about that.

[32:48] » Um, is this isolated to one area? Because

[32:51] » No, because he works in the parish on different companies, different

[32:56] restaurants, different, you know, like um gas station places where they have

[33:01] ice, you know, and he has to go and clean the sand out of those machines.

[33:07] » So, he's saying that we have sand in our water, and I get blamed for it, and I'm

[33:12] trying to figure out what's going on. I I haven't heard that just yet, but I

[33:16] will check into it. Uh sand, that's that's pretty mostly sand. It settles

[33:20] out in the sand filter because we do have sand filters at Belchase. So,

[33:24] everything is filtered through sand or anththerite. So, um but to have a sand

[33:29] filter blow out, we would know right off like right off the bat if we got sand in

[33:33] the filter. So, um I have to check into it, Miss Patter, because like like I

[33:37] said, we do use sand filters, but it'll be it'll be all over the parish. like it

[33:42] just wouldn't be isolated to an area. It'll be everybody half sand, you know,

[33:46] just not, you know, but you're saying it's businesses. So, I'll check with

[33:49] some of the ice makers and see what we So, see what he got.

[33:52] » Okay. And maybe we can talk with the one of the people that's more boisterous

[33:56] about the situation. >> Yes, ma'am.

[33:58] » Um, last year many of us sat in an education

[34:03] class to lower or to raise our grade. Does that apply for this year or you

[34:08] have to do it yearbyear? >> No, ma'am.

[34:11] » Just once. just once. >> It's per administrative order. It's not

[34:14] per year. >> Okay, good. Um, I had another question,

[34:18] but go ahead. Thank you. I >> Mr. Schultz,

[34:21] » why would we do only a rate study for Belchase when we're charging the same

[34:25] rates throughout the parish? >> The rate study applied to the whole

[34:30] parish. It just wasn't applied to each water district for the grading if I'm

[34:35] correct. Right. >> Yeah. The state just didn't give us

[34:37] credit for it. We It should have been, but the state did not give us credit for

[34:40] it. Mhm. >> And we didn't go back to them and say

[34:43] » we we asked I know Chris sent a few emails. I called I called his boss to

[34:47] see why not and they told me no. So state

[34:50] » we make copies and then just change the wording a little bit and say guess what

[34:54] this is same rates >> parish wide I mean this is this is

[34:59] » does not make any sense. >> It doesn't it doesn't but that they

[35:02] didn't give us credit for it because we did one rate study and it was for the

[35:05] entire parish but they didn't give us credit but for Belch what did he say?

[35:09] » Yeah. Uh >> yeah, the rate study was the same rate

[35:15] study was submitted for each public water system and the only one that got

[35:20] credit was Belchase. >> Okay, I yield.

[35:26] » Mr. Edwards. >> Yes. Uh Mr. Vog and I noticed you looked

[35:30] at me when you talked about the flushing.

[35:33] » Yeah. You know, and and and reason I say that I just think that I understand

[35:38] flushing is necessary for chlorine, but I don't think that one resident should

[35:42] be having a flushing for 15 years in this ditch. I just think we got to come

[35:47] a way to rotate it. And you know, Mr. Thomas in Phoenix, not too far to rock

[35:52] that been by his house for years and years and years, steady running. and he

[35:56] like most people it's right by he's got a trailer and stuff is coming all by his

[36:01] dish. I just think that we ought to be think every few years you know five

[36:05] years at le

[36:09] spot for 15 to 20 years. I I just think that I would want to reach that on

[36:13] nobody. So, I think we need to come up a way where we rotate um the the flooding

[36:18] and I don't know you really looked in into that because I think there's a part

[36:23] not too far from there where all nobody live that a area that can be do you know

[36:28] where the death used to live at warham there's a ditch right there and I think

[36:33] that could be used where really not involved with resident but Mr. Tomas

[36:38] have been subject to this for so many years and I went and saw the flight and

[36:42] it's not a good thing that he have to be continued with that. So hope we can do

[36:45] that. The other thing on where Mr. Palaso was, we went in and dealt with

[36:49] that the the dug the dish out or something and moved it, but he called me

[36:53] and saying that they left the mud, you know, on his property where he he want

[36:58] to do his uh plants that so growing at. So I don't know. I I'll I'll take uh do

[37:03] some more stretch but I know I try I know I asked uh yeah me and Lavar was

[37:07] talking about Leavar and Gerald we was talking about moving it um but that is a

[37:10] dead area though his his area is had we consistently have low chlorine residuals

[37:16] consistently so um we just got to we are going to try to move it in a better

[37:20] place I know we I know Jerald was already working on it but

[37:22] » for maybe I I don't know if 50 feet Mr. Brock from where live and where Warren

[37:29] De

[37:32] think that is you wanted to come by you >> on my property.

[37:35] » Huh? >> Okay. Okay.

[37:40] » So that's what I'm saying. I think we can move that.

[37:42] » I I'll look at it when it was up. Yeah. >> Thank you. I yield

[37:46] » Mr. Newsome. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, you know,

[37:49] as we all I'm sure administration got them when the when the paper came out

[37:53] Tuesday, it was I'm sure everybody got a lot of calls. So, I see that this was on

[37:57] my one of my agenda nights. Thank you, Mr. President, for moving to it. So, we

[38:01] can we won't have to belabor later in the meeting. Couple questions I have. I

[38:05] know if everybody would have read the article, I'm sure they would have

[38:08] realized what what really was going on. It's so couple question. I guess these

[38:14] are for you, Robert, I guess. Sampling of the water. How often do we sample our

[38:18] water? And I I saw you had a bunch of numbers. How often do we do it? Do we do

[38:22] it daily? >> We do it daily. We have um at least 35

[38:26] samples a day uh that we take and their pH, th uh pH, temperature, alkalinity,

[38:33] total hardness, calcium hardness, chlorides, fluorides,

[38:38] total chlorine, free chlorine, total ammonia, free ammonia, nitrite, and co

[38:42] copper. >> True. That's a lot of tests. Yeah, we

[38:44] it's like I said, we we didn't fail any um in Belch. This this is not a

[38:50] compliance. This is nothing to do with the water. This is all infrastructure.

[38:53] But the test the tests are the tests are passing. So,

[38:56] » we do it daily. And where's the test? Is it at the plant itself or is it in a

[39:00] line by somebody's house? >> All all the above. We have certain

[39:03] stations that's spread out through the uh parish that the LDH has designated

[39:08] for us to take samples at. So, uh we take those samples in each water

[39:12] district. So you have I think you have um how many we got more samples in

[39:18] Belchase cuz you have more residents. So >> 35 in Belchase.

[39:22] » Yeah. 35 in Belchase. Uh sample stations and we have six sample stations in Point

[39:27] La Hash, seven sample stations in Delore, 10 sample stations in uh the

[39:32] Port Sulfur area. Um so we sample we sample constantly.

[39:36] » I mean when you sample it, what happened? What do you Who did we do the

[39:41] Infomark do the testing? >> No. No, sir. When I when I I know I

[39:44] talked to Keith about this, but when I first got here, we contract we

[39:47] contracted that out and the state took over all our samples. We don't have we

[39:50] don't we do compliance sampling, stuff it in house to make sure we're operating

[39:54] properly, but the state actually comes out to um some of these sample station

[39:59] and randomly check to make sure that we're in compliance. So

[40:02] » we get So the state takes samples, Infamar takes samples and then it gets

[40:07] sent off to the state the Baton Rouge and

[40:08] » the state the state lab >> runs runs a sample.

[40:11] » Yes, sir. I know if you remember when the snowstorm we had the state had to

[40:14] take that that that's the same lab we were using they meat you know we uh

[40:17] couldn't get a sample >> okay

[40:19] » um these results you're talking about or can we post them for the residents

[40:23] somewhere I know we used to post the when the when the salt water we posted

[40:27] the the the salt whatever the um chlorides were as it rose and can we and

[40:34] I ain't saying you got to post them every day but cuz it's a lot of samples

[40:37] but >> yeah what what kind of samples you want

[40:38] to see because like like I said we would Well, and I look, I don't I drink water.

[40:43] I don't I don't have no idea what's I drink the water. So, uh what you know,

[40:47] just some I guess some basic samples. I don't know. I'd leave I'd lean on you as

[40:52] your profession to know what's the important. I'm sure they all somewhat

[40:55] important, but what are the

[41:01] » Okay. Yeah. >> And then pass it on to the residents so

[41:03] they can know that their water is good to drink and and you use and showers. Uh

[41:10] we also it's a consumer confidence report that goes out every year that we

[41:14] put together with our all our um all of our measurements, all of our tests that

[41:18] we pass what we but it's put out every year and every um every person in the

[41:23] parish need it. >> Okay, good. Yeah, I did see it coming. I

[41:26] do see that coming in. Uh so you know Delchase I listen Jeff and saw that you

[41:31] you know you had sent us an email while back in May these water the these water

[41:35] tile repairs for Cedar Grove and and Engineers Road and here what are what do

[41:43] we have an estimated cost of that? I >> I think last time I it was right at 7

[41:48] million. I know we got a grant uh Jeff what's that grant Jon M got? U see can I

[41:53] find it? >> Phase one.

[41:54] » Yes sir. >> No that's it's a capital outlay. Oh,

[41:57] it's capital outlay. I'm sorry. It's capital outlay. And that was what? 4

[42:00] million. >> No, no, no. The initial for phase one,

[42:03] it's a capital outlay of 700,000. >> Okay. Yeah.

[42:06] » Um, but next year, uh, we do have 6 million in a P5. Um, priority five,

[42:13] which hopefully the next session they'll move that to a priority one.

[42:18] » That's specifically for water tower renovations.

[42:20] » 450. Yeah. And then uh Pach um has another 6

[42:25] million in capital outlay for priority five for water towers too. So

[42:29] » that's the same one. Okay. >> Yeah.

[42:31] » All right. Thank you, Mr. Jar Edge. >> Yes. Uh in regards to Miss McCarti's

[42:39] about the sand, she is correct. I have I have several ice machines, but I can I

[42:45] keep them filled up with ice, you know, for several years. And when I if I have

[42:49] to turn it off for some reason, let the ice melt, there'll be a little sand at

[42:53] the bottom. When I talk about sand, it's very little. And you know, that's mainly

[42:57] you got to keep your filters on your ice machines changed and clean cuz once they

[43:02] get old, they'll deteriorate and stuff gets through. So, I know we do get sand

[43:06] in the lines every time we get a break. >> That's right. You're right. you know,

[43:09] and it's going to sit in those lines >> and when you get excessive pressure,

[43:14] it's going to move that sand that's settled in the bottom of those lines.

[43:17] And that's I've seen that when they got a break, sometime people you turn on,

[43:20] it's brown water. You let it run a minute and to get the Reverend Edwards

[43:24] and I understand every anytime you're at the end of a line like at the end of a

[43:29] subdivision or a lane that's the flushing sights because you got to get

[43:32] that water through that because that person at the end of the line that

[43:37] water's backing up and it's it's you know becomes you know that's that's the

[43:41] ones and I think you we could address Reverend Edwards by maybe tying into

[43:46] that hydrant and moving that line elsewhere to flush it so it's not you

[43:50] know right at the hydrant. Uh so I know uh you know we got we talk about money

[43:56] and this is what this is going to take to get out everything in compliance.

[44:00] It's going to take money and uh and it's uh you know we're an enterprise fund and

[44:06] we're not funding ourself and that that in itself if we can't get that right

[44:11] we're going to lose these grants we need to get these plants and all of these

[44:15] grades to normal and that's that becomes a big concern. So, you know, uh, and I

[44:22] do remember one time in Port Selfpha, y'all do some in-house stuff. You got a

[44:28] little room in there where y'all test test some things, but that must be the

[44:31] basic to be sure the plants operating. >> That's That's correct.

[44:34] » Right. And I was impressed with that when I saw it. So, so y'all do do

[44:37] everything y'all can, but when it comes down to it, funding is what's holding us

[44:42] back. And, and it's going to take a while. This, this didn't happen

[44:46] overnight. all of these, you know, uh, infrastructure problems and upgrades

[44:52] didn't happen overnight and it's not going to get fixed in a day either. The

[44:56] thing we need to let the people know, your drinking water is safe, you know,

[45:00] and that's the thing when they see these grades come out when it's in a a

[45:04] newspaper like it came out, they don't read the whole article. Next thing you

[45:08] know, you can't drink the water. How how they not going to jail, you know? So,

[45:13] and it's hard not to come back and explain people your drinking water is

[45:16] fine. is the plants that are fail that are failing to grade. They're still

[45:21] operational. As you said, Port Sula, when we started running water from

[45:25] Belchase all the way down the road, we weren't making water in Port Sulfur

[45:28] anymore. So, that's sitting in there. So, the state comes and takes a sample

[45:33] at Port Sulfur in that tank that's, you know, has not been moving. That's where

[45:38] they're going to get a bad sample as well. But that's not the water we're

[45:41] drinking. The water that's coming to us was coming from Belchase through Port

[45:45] Self as a booster station. Empire and these other players. But I think the

[45:48] sand issue is every time we get a break and when you talk about a lot of breaks,

[45:52] that was a major break at home place that was running for no I don't know how

[45:56] long that was going under the road straight into the drainage canal. By

[46:00] daybrook we just found two 8 in breaks if I'm not mistaken maybe a couple

[46:05] months ago in the woods. And if it would have been for somebody in there clearing

[46:10] that that land the pipes would still be you know leaking flowing water all day

[46:15] long. is 8 in line if I'm not mistaken. But we fixed those and y'all right. You

[46:20] fixed a lot of lines and I appreciate that. And you know we'll do whatever we

[46:24] can as a as a as a governing body to >> to try to, you know, get get in

[46:30] compliance, but it takes money and that's where we at, you know. So

[46:34] hopefully we can we can keep the grants coming and and try to keep it going.

[46:38] Thank y'all. I >> I want to say Jeff was right. like this.

[46:41] I've been here 14 years, but this is this is the most I ever got done. Uh the

[46:46] most we like the administration council working together to get a lot of stuff

[46:49] done. It it is going better. People really don't see that, but we are moving

[46:53] in the right direction. Um I will say the grades the state make these grades

[46:58] to put everybody on notice about the facilities, about the infrastructure,

[47:02] because if the water was bad, the state would have been came in and shut us

[47:06] down. But the water's not bad. It's the infrastructure that that's the reason

[47:09] they started doing these grades and start want to hold us accountable.

[47:12] Actually, uh I think it was me and Jeff who was in a meeting with Louisiana

[47:15] Rural Water and uh they actually stated to us if if we don't do something with

[47:20] our what Enterprise Fund or something uh to the fund was enterprise enterprise

[47:25] fund that the state could make us go up on our rates. Um, and I was that that

[47:30] was a eye openener for us that we we can't like Jeff said, we are losing a

[47:34] lot of grants if we don't because we got to be self sustainable. Uh, and the

[47:37] state want us to do that. So these grates are they they put these grades

[47:40] out just for this reason only. >> I could tell you I got text messages and

[47:48] calls about sand in the water in the tubs. Uh, I got filters on our boats in

[47:54] Venice and I could bring you some after a month. and

[47:58] » is not good. But uh on them flush out lines, can we loop it? That we are

[48:06] working on the loop system. We are um I know me and Keith and Jeff, we talked

[48:10] about it. Um I think last month we the 20-in line is coming out and we have

[48:14] dual feed and uh from Alliance all the way to Port Sulfur. And so that's the

[48:18] next project, next phase u of one of the projects we're doing is going to be from

[48:22] Port Sulfur Southlight to home place and have a dual feed. So we can have a loop

[48:27] system that'll help us with our chlorine residual as well. When you only have one

[48:30] line, you got to focus on that one line. But a loop system, it can keep the the

[48:35] water fresher than um those dead end lines that we have.

[48:38] » And even if we had to, we could get with farmers like Mr. Brock and say, "Hey,

[48:42] we'll loop your line. You want to go water your garden?"

[48:46] » Yeah. >> And then I know the water towers Burus

[48:50] is the newest one and it's 20 years old. So

[48:53] » we getting a new Yeah. y'all approved for a new one.

[48:56] » And uh I need to get with you later about some water bills because we

[49:02] getting the same calls as New Orleans is or Jefferson Parish now.

[49:06] » I agree. >> And I got some when we first put them in

[49:11] » and I asked the administration at the time if vibrations could make the meter

[49:18] add gallons and they said no. So I contacted the meter people and asked

[49:23] them. They said yes it can. >> So

[49:26] » that's that's the first time I heard that. But I know with the with the newer

[49:30] meters that we install, if your meter is 10 to 15 years old, it's it's not

[49:34] accurate. And when you replace the meter, you will get an accurate bill and

[49:37] it it's going to be higher than it normally is. A lot of people don't mess

[49:40] with my meter. Don't touch my meter. No, we got to change it. So when you change

[49:43] out a when you put a brand new meter, you're going to get accuracy for at

[49:46] least 10, 15 years. And that's why you have a meter change out program. But um

[49:51] » that that I know that's what that's some of the issue in Jefferson Parish.

[49:54] » We got to watch who replaces the meter too. That's right. I know one house they

[49:58] put the meter in >> and when they took it off they flushed

[50:03] rocks into the line going to the house >> and I had to replace washers and dry uh

[50:09] washers and toilets and put the meter in backwards and they had to come back and

[50:16] redo it. So, I'll talk to you about that. Okay. Talk

[50:21] to me about that one. I first tough hearing that one.

[50:24] » All right. Thank you. All right. >> Mr. Edwards.

[50:27] » Yeah. Getting back to water. Just just yesterday evening, a resident came to me

[50:32] around 7:00 asking about the water tower and day vent for what purpose it served

[50:38] and so what can we do? the the day vent tower is actually for fire suppression

[50:43] for the for the community system to uh yeah the community center at there

[50:48] » that that water tower is not tied into our system

[50:51] » yeah we that we don't that water >> yeah the only purpose is that tower is

[50:56] for water for fire suppression for the community is that we we're not that

[50:59] tower it's not in our part of our inspection or anything

[51:03] » and my last question is what where we at in terms of having a ward the pipes

[51:09] brought under the river to relieve the pressure on the East Bank of the River.

[51:13] I know that was a conversation we had. Is that something still on the board or

[51:18] we uh we were looking to do a trip back to DC here sometime this month, but we

[51:24] just been sort of busy and but we're we're planning another another trip to

[51:29] get with Scalis's office on that. So, we're still working on that. What I can

[51:33] do is I can get an update because you know we did appropriate some funds to

[51:37] start the uh permitting process. So we can get we'll get an update on that.

[51:41] » That's what I thought. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

[51:43] » Thank you. Thank you. McCree that this administration has been

[51:49] working hard on the many water problems we have and it's hard to keep up. I

[51:54] understand that uh if also does work for St. Bernard. How do how do we compare to

[51:59] St. Bernard since you do work in both? Well, actually same we don't do

[52:03] everything. We just run the facility um the water plant and um I believe what

[52:08] they got a a >> So you're

[52:10] » I believe they have they had they had a a I believe but it's mostly that's

[52:13] collection and distribution side. So we only run the water facility in St.

[52:17] Bernard. >> Okay. Thank you.

[52:21] » Any other questions, comments? >> Thank you, Mr.

[52:34] Are you finished with your presidential update?

[52:37] » Any any comments from the audience of

[52:50] James Wigstrom, 18367 Wisteria Drive, Ponchula, Louisiana. I'm a paramedic. on

[52:56] the east bank and I've been there for 27 years. I don't drink bottled water. I

[53:00] drink the regular water out of the faucet. My question is during the

[53:05] testing, what's the difference between the percentage of accuracy between the

[53:10] state level and our local level testing results? The results are they

[53:15] compatible? Are they? >> Mr. Morgan, can you come answer that?

[53:20] I know I taste it but >> well um the samples that the the state

[53:26] run we don't we don't we don't compare samples the state that what they say is

[53:30] what we go by now we do crossch checkck uh the chlorine residuals uh when they

[53:35] take a chlorine residual but when they take a backt sample things like that the

[53:39] state analyze that and um cuz they have the lab to analyze the the back tea

[53:43] sample but on the chlorine residual I say we probably

[53:48] 3 to 4% from what they have like if they have a 08 we might be a 0.9 on our

[53:54] meters but we calibrate those every day and sometimes we have had the state um

[53:59] come back and recheck it because their meter was wrong or something like that.

[54:02] So we have on chlorine samples things like that we we monitor those daily

[54:07] those that is a that is a pro we have to do that. So

[54:11] » any other comments from the audience

[54:17] clearance box 156 came uh that water land at the water pipe that hydrant

[54:23] that's uh got the uh that's on on my property that was uh talking about. We

[54:29] could solve that problem real easy. That's all the hydrant have a 2 in line

[54:34] coming from it but it stopped right by the ditch. All we got to do is extend

[54:37] that line another 50 ft and that resident will have no problem. So that's

[54:43] a easy go. And uh Billy uh keeps the uh the dish pretty uh clean cut the grass

[54:49] so the water will flow but we just got to extend that pipeline a little

[54:52] further. Thanks. >> Any more comments?

[54:57] » Uh handle D. You know, that article I had

[55:02] in the paper, that was a blessing in disguise cuz uh I commend the

[55:08] administration for having this out in the public that the public see what the

[55:13] deal is. I know Mr. Champagne is always dealing with it, but I'm glad that have

[55:18] it out in the open so everybody could see. We do have a problem. Now,

[55:24] it's up to us to see how we fix it. But I commend the administration.

[55:29] Commend Mr. Morgan. Uh because been a long time since this

[55:35] got straight and I don't know if it's ever going to get straight.

[55:39] I don't know. Jeff Par. >> Big problem. Big problem.

[55:44] » You know, Mr. Henrik, y'all y'all drink bottle water up here down the road. We

[55:48] drink out the tap. >> Yes, ma'am.

[55:54] » Come on up. >> How y'all doing? 46 Mount Zion Lane. Uh

[56:00] Lolita Fryson. Uh don't even start, Mr. Norman. I see you your mouth moved when

[56:04] I said something. Uh Councilman, but um uh I'm coming about uh my water bill and

[56:10] my uh RV park. Uh the uh park wasn't even up and running and uh I I was over

[56:20] there actually with uh the people that do the fire hydrants. We

[56:25] ain't got but two in the parish, Brooks and and another organization. Well,

[56:30] anyway, they was there and he said, "You I think you got a leak somewhere." So, I

[56:34] said, "I'll walk the property after y'all get through." And uh lo and

[56:39] behold, I had a small leak. So, I called the uh water people. I messed up. I

[56:44] didn't know you're not supposed to call them. I messed up. And I called them and

[56:49] I told them, "Could you just turn the water completely off? No one's in the

[56:52] trailer park or anything." And then the next thing I know, I they call me back

[56:56] and they say they sent someone out there and that uh the guy said the ditch was

[57:02] full of water. I said, "Impossible." I said, "Well, I'm on my way down,

[57:07] ma'am." I was on my way with the uh tractor to go cut grass. So, I went down

[57:12] there and I saw the guy, lo and behold, saw him u messing around. I said, "Sir,

[57:15] was you the same person that went check my water uh meter?" He said, "Yes." I

[57:20] said, "Could you come give me 20 minutes to get there and come back?" He said,

[57:23] "No problem." Get down there. I said, "Well, the people said you said the

[57:26] ditch is full of water. Where it's at?" "Oh, it must have left." I said, "Sir,

[57:31] when this ditch get full of water, the pumping station is on." And the pumping

[57:36] station ain't on because no rain came. So now they want me to pay a $1,400

[57:42] water bill that don't exist. I said, "Now somebody

[57:46] done fabricated some stuff in between here." I said, "You know how I know it?

[57:50] Because uh my neighbors is Jeff uh Ragg and his wife and she called me. I had a

[57:56] water line break on top. This is down beneath. Okay. I go there. I say, "Thank

[58:02] you for letting me know." Got my neighbor fixed it. No problem. Water

[58:06] bill. Same water bill. When I got the water bill on the very when they turned

[58:12] it on the very first time, they had a break. The lady said, "Call me back

[58:16] before I could leave. Belchase." She said, "Miss Ly on your property hooking

[58:19] up your water. Water is gushing everywhere." I said, "I'm on my way down

[58:23] there." When I got the water bill, normal water

[58:28] bill. So why all of a sudden this water bill is $1,400?

[58:35] I don't know. Y'all don't either. They don't either.

[58:42] But I know when I see a a a game or some bogus activity. I know what it is

[58:46] because I've been through this process before. I didn't get before you and lie.

[58:51] I came with the truth that it had broken before. The water bill never changed.

[58:56] It's still what it was. I have history. I have paperwork on it. And uh makes s

[59:03] make it make sense. Anything if if you see me come up here, believe me, don't

[59:07] nothing make sense.

[59:10] And nobody never have nothing to say. >> Oh, I I can't answer a water problem.

[59:17] » Me either. >> Uhuh. Well, like if you had if you had a

[59:20] leak on your side and the water went through the meter, that's that's the

[59:22] only reason I can think off the top of my head it'll be that high. But if you

[59:25] fix the leak, we will give you a credit. We will give you a credit on

[59:29] » I don't know why it's that high, period. Because I had a leak at that same very

[59:33] one once before and it really actually had a whole bunch of water when I went.

[59:38] Big Easy is the name of the people with the uh fire hydrant. Uh when I came

[59:44] there, >> it was damp.

[59:46] » Beacon the mic. >> I Oh, I'm sorry. He always keep trying

[59:49] to do that to me. Stop that. When I got there, all I could go by was some

[59:54] dampness. I took a bottle. I couldn't even put the

[59:58] bottle the head of the bottle all the way in the ground because it was dry.

[1:00:03] So, this is this the kind of foolishness I'm dealing with.

[1:00:08] make it make sense. Well, >> this this is this is this I'm going to

[1:00:12] say if if you had a a high water bill, the water had to go through the meter.

[1:00:16] So, we can't we don't account for we account for water that doesn't go

[1:00:20] through the meter. But you are charged on the water that goes through the

[1:00:23] meter. Now, if you had a leak, like I said, you will get adjustment. Um but

[1:00:26] let me do a little bit more research on your bill before I tell you anything

[1:00:29] else. But if you had a leak on your side and the water went through, you will be

[1:00:34] charged for it. But we do give credits. to do adjustments if you fix the leak

[1:00:38] like you said you got paperwork for. >> Robert, can I ask a question?

[1:00:40] » Yes, sir. >> Uh sometimes I know you know they would

[1:00:44] they would do the water meters and they would just go ahead and you know not

[1:00:49] check it every month and then when they checked it every third or fourth month

[1:00:53] you would I know I'm just just listen what I'm saying. In the past you know

[1:00:57] all of a sudden you would see a jump in it because they were just averaging out

[1:01:00] what your normal usage was. Y'all don't y'all don't do that electronic

[1:01:04] » me all of them electronic. And if >> I just wanted to clarify that to be sure

[1:01:08] that that's not you had the leak several months ago and they just adjusted it

[1:01:13] because that's that's the way they would have.

[1:01:14] » But we have a with the new system that we have, you can actually come in or we

[1:01:18] can send you an email and we can show you the trend of you was using 50

[1:01:22] gallons to 100,000 gallons and it'll show you the trend when it happened,

[1:01:27] when it started going up. We can we do all of that now. the new system that

[1:01:30] that y'all approve >> before for certain residents.

[1:01:33] » So that that when they use that big amount of

[1:01:35] » That's right. And that's and if during the snowtorm the snowstorm, we actually

[1:01:39] were using the system to go turn residents off because we can we started

[1:01:43] monitoring uh during the snowstorm. A lot of people had breaks they didn't

[1:01:46] know about. So we did start turning a lot of people off and um told them to

[1:01:51] call us back after they got it fixed. So the system does we can track we can

[1:01:54] trace why your building is high. My turn. One. I have a old They ne they

[1:02:03] they never changed my uh water uh meter main. I have a old one. I don't have a

[1:02:10] digital one. They changed everyone around my neighborhood but me. Well,

[1:02:13] maybe that's a good thing. But uh far as the previous months and all of that, it

[1:02:18] didn't add up to that. This was for that. It was the bill was

[1:02:23] at at the right time. It's just the amount

[1:02:28] the for there's nobody there. I mean, I didn't have nobody for three months. I

[1:02:32] mean, six months later, you know, so if they missed it for three six months and

[1:02:37] say, "Oh, let's build on now for the six month water bill." That's bogus.

[1:02:41] » Okay. >> Come on now. That's not the problem.

[1:02:43] » Can we wait for him to check on it and he'll get

[1:02:46] » Oh, I done been to the place over there. I told the lady what I didn't tell her,

[1:02:50] you know. So >> he'll get with me and we'll

[1:02:52] » the the bottle is still on the property because just in case I still left the

[1:02:56] bottle in there. I said, "Man, y'all got to stop this foolishness when it come to

[1:03:00] me. I don't know what kind of prejudice or foolishness I got to deal with in

[1:03:04] this parish constantly. If it ain't the permit office, it's something else. I

[1:03:09] got a problem with energy. What is going on with it about me?

[1:03:13] » Just give us a chance. >> I know I'm a powerful woman now. I know

[1:03:16] this. Just give us >> But my goodness,

[1:03:18] » just give us a chance to get him to look over your bill and he'll get with me and

[1:03:23] I'll get with you. >> Okay. I appreciate I I even went to the

[1:03:26] caddy priest. Sir, help me some kind of way.

[1:03:28] » Mr. Morgan, can you get her address and do exactly like I've did with those

[1:03:32] other showraph and show when the leak took place or when the high usage and

[1:03:36] get that back to Mr. Connovich so he can have it so he can uh cuz cuz y'all have

[1:03:40] that in the office. It's it's easy to track.

[1:03:44] » Miss McCauley.

[1:03:48] You can go back, >> Miss Mr. Morgan. Um, I would ask that

[1:03:53] you update us all so that we know what's going on. And

[1:03:58] » update us all about the situation. Okay. So that we know what's going on. And by

[1:04:02] the way, the I understand the parish is updating the software, so they're

[1:04:07] becoming more consistent with the same situation over and over. Thank you.

[1:04:12] » Thank you. While while I'm up here, didn't I do Can I address the other

[1:04:15] situations or I need to wait? >> I could go back a second.

[1:04:19] » Mr. Jurich. >> Yes. I just have a I want to, you know,

[1:04:23] at Mr. Ashley made a good schedule for the splash pads both at the Roger Halen

[1:04:28] Field and uh and the Empire splash pad. The people have been very happy. I'm

[1:04:33] still trying to convince them to be sure they turn them off when they leave and

[1:04:37] we've been pretty successful at that. We only had one instance that y'all

[1:04:40] started. I really appreciate that. And also an announcement that the restroom

[1:04:44] facility for Jesuit Ben Park will be arriving on the 17th of this month. And

[1:04:49] I want to thank him for walking off for getting the water in place and the in

[1:04:53] the sewer treatment plant and all of that set up for us. And I think we still

[1:04:57] waiting on electrical or did we make any progress on the electrical?

[1:05:04] » PO was issued. >> Yeah.

[1:05:07] » Yes. So, we issued the PO this week and we um have covered all the expenses that

[1:05:12] we need to to complete that part of the project. So, we are on target to

[1:05:17] complete everything um around the week after the um the restroom actually

[1:05:22] arrives. So, we'll need to kind of hook it up and we'll run some tests and

[1:05:26] everything before we open it to the public.

[1:05:29] » So, we will meet the deadline. >> Yes, we absolutely will meet the

[1:05:31] deadline. >> Great job.

[1:05:33] » Yes. Thank you all for everyone. Yeah. Thank you everyone for your hard work

[1:05:37] and participation um and helping us get that project done on time.

[1:05:41] » Next item please. >> 5 A will be deferred. Six beer and

[1:05:46] liquor licenses. YMCA of Greater New Orleans tailgate cookoff fundraiser

[1:05:50] located at 33373 Highway 23 Burus, Louisiana 70041 on September 26, 2026

[1:05:57] from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sea Train Tavern 9080 Highway 23 Belchase, Louisiana.

[1:06:03] Ded's Bar and Grill LLC 32381A Highway 23 Burus, Louisiana. First class

[1:06:10] gentleman social aid and pleasure club Junth celebration located at 278 Civic

[1:06:14] Drive, Port Sula, Louisiana 70083 on June 20th, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 6

[1:06:20] 6:00 p.m. >> I'll off second by Mr. Juros. Any

[1:06:25] questions from the audience? Administration,

[1:06:28] council, machines open.

[1:06:34] And it pass 80

[1:06:40] 71 construction permits. Venture Global Application number 2019554. Application

[1:06:46] date 8521. Amending permit 2019 554 to replace the marine and ground flare.

[1:06:51] Installation of a new transformer 2200 highway 23 port self for council member

[1:06:56] Lef France. >> I'll offer for Mr. Lef France. Is there

[1:06:59] a second? Second by Miss McCordi. Any count uh from the audience?

[1:07:05] Administration council chains open

[1:07:13] passes. 80

[1:07:19] » B 181 Elorado LLC, Robert Buford, New Permanent RV Park 154 Elorado Street,

[1:07:25] Yurus, Louisiana. Venice Charters Unlimited LLC, Brent Roy, permanent RV

[1:07:30] park renewal for nine spaces, EMTT Lane, Boothville, Louisiana. Kelly Frederick,

[1:07:34] temporary RV park renewal for 20 spaces 26042 highway 23, Port Louisiana.

[1:07:40] » I'll ask for a second. Second by Mr. Jurassic. Any comments from the

[1:07:45] audience? Administration council Sheen's open

[1:07:56] is 800. Harvest Louisiana Terminals LLC business

[1:08:01] occupancy certificate to operate a petroleum product terminal storage and

[1:08:05] transportation of crude oil and liqufied pet I'm sorry gas 15551 highway 23

[1:08:12] Alliance Louisiana council member Lef France

[1:08:15] » somebody offer that for Mr. Lef France Mr. Jur is there a second by Mr. Nuome

[1:08:20] any questions from the audience administration councel Mr. Newsome

[1:08:26] » thank you Mr. Chamber. Is this something new or

[1:08:31] is this something new or is this a It doesn't say renewal. It's I thought they

[1:08:35] were operating already. Is that true? Oh, we got somebody coming up.

[1:08:40] » Jared Jones, for the record. Harvest Midstream. Uh my address is in Houston.

[1:08:44] Would you like that? >> Houston.

[1:08:46] » Okay. Yeah. Houston, Texas. Um the the terminal is in operation. This is uh

[1:08:53] this is in pursuant to FTZ and kind of a growing operation. So this is just a uh

[1:08:58] a growth um of that operation there.

[1:09:04] » And you said FTZ. This is something you're planning for the FTZ.

[1:09:08] » Yes. >> All right. Thank you.

[1:09:10] » Thank you, >> Mr. Jeros.

[1:09:12] » Uh no, this is some exciting times because we need to see this this get

[1:09:16] back up and running. I appreciate this. So I think you know we're looking

[1:09:19] forward to it. >> Absolutely. We're looking forward to it

[1:09:21] as well and uh just I think that the the company is very very excited about the

[1:09:26] opportunities that we have here in Blackman's Parish

[1:09:28] » and the magic word was growth. >> Thank you. Any other comments? Machines

[1:09:35] are open.

[1:09:41] It passes seven with one abstension.

[1:09:51] F. Belchase High School color guard. Application for gaming permit is hereby

[1:09:55] issued to Allison Parrot on behalf of Belchase High School located at 8346

[1:10:00] Highway 23 Belchase, Louisiana 70037. Council member Gooey.

[1:10:06] » Council member Guey offers there. Second. Second by Mr. Jurich. Any

[1:10:11] comments from the audience? Administration

[1:10:15] council machines are open.

[1:10:21] It passes. 8 Z.

[1:10:27] Introduction of ordinances and resolutions.

[1:10:32] » The following. All right.

[1:10:36] The following ordinance is on behalf of council member Champagne. an ordinance

[1:10:40] to amend the 5-year capital improvement plan, water tower repairs, bellchase and

[1:10:45] eastbank project, and otherwise to provide with respect there too. The next

[1:10:49] two are for council member Schultz. An ordinance to provide for mosquito

[1:10:53] abatement through the engagement of vector disease control international to

[1:10:57] dissolve the mosquito control department to reallocate the revenues from the m

[1:11:02] mosquito control free fee and otherwise to provide with respect thereto an

[1:11:08] ordinance to amend and as amended readopt sections 5.82 82 5.72

[1:11:14] and 5.79 of chapter 5 article 3 dogs and other animals of the code of ordinances

[1:11:20] and otherwise to provide with respect there too. The next two are for council

[1:11:24] member Konovich. an ordinance to extend temporary easement servitude rightaway

[1:11:29] easement for coastwide reference monitor mon monitoring system project and

[1:11:34] otherwise to provide with respect there too an ordinance to amend the 5-year

[1:11:38] capital improvement plan lift station repairs E7

[1:11:43] 8 and 446 project and otherwise to provide with respect there there too and

[1:11:49] that is only introductions >> anybody has the withdrawal or deferral

[1:11:55] Yes.

[1:11:59] » Be deferred. >> Reintroduce.

[1:12:00] » Yeah, we need to reintroduce it. >> Withdraw it and going to go back.

[1:12:04] » Well, it's fall off. So, an ordinance authorizing the parish president to

[1:12:09] enter into a franchise agreement with energy for the rightway and privilege to

[1:12:14] supply electric power and energy throughout Plaqueman's parish. the

[1:12:18] rights to acquire, construct, operate, and maintain such plants, structures,

[1:12:24] transmission lines, distribution systems, and equipment as may be

[1:12:29] necessary for generation, production, transportation, distribution, and/or

[1:12:34] sale of electric power and energy throughout the parish and otherwise to

[1:12:38] provide with respect there too. And this one was for Miss uh Council Member

[1:12:42] Konovich. If you have anything to withdraw defer Q

[1:12:46] in Mr. Schultz. >> Yes. Uh

[1:12:50] C and D will be deferred. >> C and D.

[1:12:54] » Yes. And then um B will be withdrawn. >> Do you

[1:13:02] » C and D Charlie and Delta will be deferred. B as in Bravo will be

[1:13:07] withdrawn and reintroduc. it was reintroduced to make Mitch happy and not

[1:13:12] have changes read. So >> I want to thank you for that.

[1:13:16] » So um that that will be voted on though at the next meeting.

[1:13:22] » Anyone else

[1:13:26] think you you you said uh Councilman Francis

[1:13:30] » Colton's will be deferred. >> Okay.

[1:13:36] » Whichever one's Colton's I don't know. Yes.

[1:13:40] » Can we uh do we want to allow them to talk

[1:13:44] » or discussion >> because we could bring it up for

[1:13:47] discussion and >> Yeah, they're here.

[1:13:50] » I think we owe it to them to let them come up

[1:13:53] » to that one first. >> Well, yeah, that's F. When we get there,

[1:13:56] » we could do it now so they can >> Well, anybody else has

[1:14:00] » nobody else queued in so >> Okay,

[1:14:03] » we go to F. What is it? F >> a resolution ordering and calling an

[1:14:08] election to be held in the parish of Placman, state of Louisiana to authorize

[1:14:11] the rededication levy and collection of a special sales and use tax there and

[1:14:16] making application to the Louisiana State Bond Commission and providing for

[1:14:19] other matters in connection therewith. >> I'll offer for discussion. Is there

[1:14:23] second by Mr. Schultz? >> Any questions from the audience?

[1:14:35] I left some information for you guys to review. I'm sorry. I'm Shannon Larus,

[1:14:39] EMS manager. >> I left some information for you guys to

[1:14:43] review. So, we'll just come to the next council meeting to give you guys some

[1:14:47] time to look at the documents that we left

[1:14:51] if there's any questions. >> I'm sorry. I'll send it to you,

[1:14:56] » Mr. Jerich. >> Yes. I I think we were a couple

[1:14:59] documents shy. I I wasn't sure how many I needed to print.

[1:15:03] » Uh, Council Member Champagne might have never gotten one either.

[1:15:06] » Um, I can send any anyone that needs I I can provide.

[1:15:13] » Any other comments from the audience?

[1:15:19] » Um, Arthur Henry, this $15 million that's a projection for every year.

[1:15:29] You got a $15 million here. >> That That was the sales tax projected,

[1:15:35] but I don't think >> Hey, hey, I'm I'm

[1:15:39] » so that's normally what >> people got to ask cuz it's down here,

[1:15:43] you know. >> So, in a normal year

[1:15:46] prior to Venture Global, let's put that way 15 million. I think we budgeted that

[1:15:52] this year because Venture Global was not building anything, but we're on pace for

[1:15:56] I think about 12 million >> when the extension comes.

[1:15:59] » Well, when the extension comes, it will be more than that.

[1:16:02] » So 15 is a normal year prior to Venture Global.

[1:16:08] » I never got it >> right. I got that.

[1:16:10] » So So that's why it's 15 because that's what it's projected on on normal.

[1:16:16] » I just want to make sure the projection was correct. Okay.

[1:16:20] » Who did you send? >> Any other comments from the audience?

[1:16:26] » My name's

[1:16:30] now send it to us. >> Yeah. Wigstrom 18367 punch to uh

[1:16:37] Louisiana. I um had something written to this talk today and I didn't know Mr.

[1:16:44] Mr. uh Councilman Lef France actually was not going to be here. Um is this for

[1:16:49] discussion right now? >> Yes.

[1:16:51] » Okay then. Um I am going to read what I have

[1:17:08] as an advocate for patient members of this parish. I thank Councilman Lef

[1:17:12] France and Reverend I thank you also for having this come upon up for a vote.

[1:17:21] Hopefully it does because um I do believe ambulance services are

[1:17:28] vital to this community especially considering the demographics. A life

[1:17:32] should never be spared at the cost of a dollar amount. Not only can this resolve

[1:17:37] budget disputes, but will benefit the parish as a whole as the November 3rd

[1:17:42] election approaches. And I do understand now that this won't make the November

[1:17:46] 3rd correct. >> Good. Okay.

[1:17:52] As the November 3rd election approaches and a new council is coming in as of

[1:17:57] 2027, this is the time to vote on this. It should have been done two years ago.

[1:18:06] I'm sorry. I'm nervous. Um, begging for money every year and

[1:18:11] throughout the years is embarrassing and sad.

[1:18:14] You are literally paying playing politics with people's lives and their

[1:18:19] well-being. Later today, you will hear the fire department ask for $16 million

[1:18:26] um that should have been paid throughout the years of maintenance in buildings

[1:18:31] where my husband is in one right now with mold.

[1:18:35] Also 5 million for a new training facility. This million this 5 million

[1:18:42] can go to the ambulance department in 2027

[1:18:46] even if it comes out their slush fund right now. They're um they're not going

[1:18:52] to get that built to next year and they're going to be asking for new

[1:18:55] budget money. So I ask you when that comes up to please defer it. This is a

[1:19:00] time to put this on the the ballot. I ask you to please vote today with

[1:19:05] amendments. This can help fund the ambulance

[1:19:09] department with a dedicated income source. In return, leave the money in

[1:19:13] the parish budget and give to other departments struggling to survive.

[1:19:18] Granted, money is not a fix all, but a start to getting the ambulance out from

[1:19:23] underneath the parish's 1% sales tax and to stop yearly defunding

[1:19:29] rumors that kill morale. By asking the people to spend their

[1:19:34] money wisely is not a bad thing. Some people may differ, but it can be good

[1:19:40] for both ambulance and fire departments to have the top-notch tools to serve the

[1:19:45] parish. To be clear, the fire department 1% sales tax already collected but not

[1:19:52] shared with other departments is is not shared with other departments while the

[1:19:57] parishes 1% is shared between multiple departments like water, sewer, levies,

[1:20:01] parks, recreation, courts, and libraries along with the ambulance department. And

[1:20:06] wow, guys, that is that's a a big spin for little funds. I hear you.

[1:20:13] The fire got those funds by a vote many years ago after hurricanes destroyed the

[1:20:17] parish. The campaign said if you build with fire to build our fire stations

[1:20:23] within your neighborhood, it would lower your insurance ratings and cost.

[1:20:28] You must support the tax. Well, of course, it was supported.

[1:20:33] Everybody wants fire protection and decreased insurance rates and dis

[1:20:37] discounts. On the other hand, an ambulance millage was brought up during

[1:20:42] the pandemic when people were not working, losing their jobs, couldn't

[1:20:46] feed their families. So, of course, that failed.

[1:20:51] If you inquire today amongst the public, some people think the fires 1% is

[1:20:56] already shared with the ambulance department since they respond together.

[1:21:00] Let's put this back on the ballot with a clear understanding that it's not a new

[1:21:05] tax, but a split rededicated tax for fire and ambulance to share together,

[1:21:11] giving each 1/2 or 1% sales tax. Since both ambulance and fire are

[1:21:18] equally important, guys, they are to the welfare of the people in the

[1:21:23] parish. This should be shared alike. both have big needs for life sustaining

[1:21:30] measures and both require funding for those needs and equipment. If you don't

[1:21:36] find funding

[1:21:42] if you don't find uh if you don't find funding

[1:21:46] uh soon the 2027 budget is right around the corner. This split of the sales tax

[1:21:52] is a matter of life and death. November 3rd vote can help the people to

[1:21:58] if they if they vote yes on this. Look, fire department has benefited greatly

[1:22:03] over the years and even stockpiled $63 million according to the end of the

[1:22:08] budget for 2026. But guys, it's time to share the wealth

[1:22:13] from future collections. It's the people's money. Let them decide in

[1:22:17] November. This can be a win-win for all. It can be a win for fire because they'll

[1:22:23] still have a hefty budget plus their stockpile. It'll be a win-win for parish

[1:22:28] government because they'll have a fully funded EMS service and fire department

[1:22:33] service for the growing parish and the increased 911 calls. It'll be incre

[1:22:37] it'll be a win-win for ambulance because they have

[1:22:42] uh it'll increase their morale and not have to worry about where funding come

[1:22:46] from every year. It'll also give them a working bug budget with extra funds

[1:22:51] where we can buy extra ambulances and personnel and supply those to the people

[1:22:56] on the lower ends of each par of the parish. It'll uh also be a win-win for

[1:23:01] the parish residents because they'll be re relieved to know that they have

[1:23:05] dedicated working units throughout the parish. It'll also be a win-win for

[1:23:10] other parish departments because there will be more money left in the general

[1:23:13] fund for the struggling departments like recreation. And that'll be a win-win for

[1:23:18] the kiddos, too.

[1:23:23] Before you vote, please consider these amendments. Please consider amendments

[1:23:27] to include wording as a fires department. Some words were left out on

[1:23:31] that. also amended to include the revenues collected by the ambulance

[1:23:36] department to say within the ambulance budget the funds that to include those

[1:23:42] to go to to the ambulance budget solely because those funds come from insurance

[1:23:47] Medicare Medicaid and should replace the cost for ambulance overhead expenses

[1:23:53] again please vote yes to put this on the November third ballot let the people

[1:23:58] decide if they want the tax dollars to go to a dedicated ated ambulance

[1:24:03] department and have both fire and ambulance covered with a split tax.

[1:24:10] Someone save life depends on it. Thank you.

[1:24:14] » Thank you, Mr. Well, >> I think there's still other people in

[1:24:17] the audience. Miss Brooks or Mr. Rum. >> Didn't he come up once before?

[1:24:24] » Not on this. >> Not on this item.

[1:24:28] » Clarence box 156 is Camelan. Uh, I got a mix mix emotions cuz you know I'm a

[1:24:34] firefighter. I've been a firefighter for 42 years except um and and all for 42

[1:24:40] years I've been the fire chief or the assistant fire chief for 42 years except

[1:24:44] last year I set out for one year because I had a little grief with the fire

[1:24:48] department and I wanted and I didn't win the the grief. So I'm telling you that.

[1:24:53] But I set out for one year as a firefighter. I never left the fire

[1:24:56] department. Uh what I'm trying to say um we we need the ambulance. I'm talking

[1:25:01] about district one. I know on this West Bank we have uh uh like two or three

[1:25:06] health departments like building two two total and we have a hospital and we have

[1:25:13] uh right there uh metacrist used to be right there in almost in Belchase. So

[1:25:20] this west bank is well covered but that east bank it's 45 minutes to an hour to

[1:25:25] get to the nearest hospital and that nearest hospital is not favorable for a

[1:25:31] lot of us. We we're afraid of it. So uh >> I know how you feel down the road.

[1:25:38] » I know I know y'all y'all way down that road and so y'all depend on that amalams

[1:25:43] uh very very well very much. So, uh, what I'm trying to say is, uh, I getting

[1:25:49] the money from the fire department is not going to be a easy job. I know that

[1:25:53] for sure. Uh, uh, but, uh, can y'all go and find out some kind of way? I know

[1:25:59] you get grants and stuff. So, we kind of find another way. If we go to the public

[1:26:03] and saying that we going to send another uh, uh, go up to be elected, we taking a

[1:26:09] chance of them not not not passing it. So the fire department mean the amal do

[1:26:14] need more money. If we if you want to believe me let them start quitting and

[1:26:18] go to other places where they going to get paid more money then we going to be

[1:26:22] we going to be in bad condition. So find find a way. Y'all smart. I agree cuz

[1:26:27] somebody said y'all smart. So so find some money for the MLMs. Whatever means

[1:26:32] it take. Bye. >> I don't know who told you that story.

[1:26:35] » Yeah I was about to say who told you that.

[1:26:41] I never said I was smart.

[1:26:47] » James Wickstrom, 18367 Wisteria Drive, Ponchatula, Louisiana.

[1:26:52] 27 years I've been on the East Bank. 27 years I've watched you come into the

[1:26:58] world. I watched you leave. It was brought up about Big O's

[1:27:02] daughter. Thank God I wasn't there. That's tragedy.

[1:27:08] Want you to understand one thing, Mr. Schultz. Thank you for your services

[1:27:14] as a firefighter, CPR, saving a life. Excellent job.

[1:27:20] Nobody ever thanks us. Not one time. In my 30 years of career

[1:27:25] as a paramedic, I have two saves. Two. One just a few months ago at the

[1:27:32] courthouse. Nobody patting me on the back. Nobody

[1:27:36] thank me. It's not me. It's my crew, the firefighters I work with and everything

[1:27:42] like that. When the ferry shuts down on the east

[1:27:46] bank, I am one bad accident way of having more tragedies. I'm the only one.

[1:27:52] Me and my partner. You can't carry can't carry patients on fire trucks.

[1:27:57] So, it's an honor to serve with the fire department. They're all my favorite

[1:28:01] crew. Ask any one of them. and they'll tell you the same thing. Thank you very

[1:28:05] much. >> Thank you.

[1:28:13] » 146 Mount Zion Lane, uh, Beerish, Louisiana. I applaud each and every one

[1:28:18] of y'all because I have a sick sister and I thank God for the first

[1:28:22] responders. Period. Officers, please don't stop me. Give me a ticket. But I

[1:28:26] thank God for all the first responders because y'all do an awesome job. I have

[1:28:31] my neighbor is sick as well. And I look out the window sometime and boom, the

[1:28:35] ambulance either. They say they coming by your sister or they coming by the

[1:28:38] neighbor. I say I see it coming. I don't know which one of them either. I'm in a

[1:28:41] yard and uh y'all do an awesome job. I applaud y'all. I applaud y'all. I don't

[1:28:48] know how this work because see God done put me in this here position with this

[1:28:52] political stuff that I hate with a passion. But I see it's needed for me to

[1:28:58] come and go. But um we just had a a strawberry I mean a crawfish festival

[1:29:04] that was for the fire department. >> How that works?

[1:29:09] » Cuz if it works for the fire department, why can't we have another one or some

[1:29:12] kind of festival for the uh EMTs and and whatever else need money? Y'all can have

[1:29:18] one for me if y'all want. >> You could you could have it and

[1:29:23] tickets. >> Come on now y'all. We got to we got we

[1:29:26] need this. >> We need this. So that was for the

[1:29:28] volunteer fire department, but that's not going to cover the millions that

[1:29:33] we're short that for EMS. We're short. >> One thing about I know down the road.

[1:29:37] » Yes, we can do it. But I'm just saying we need millions.

[1:29:40] » Yes. Okay. Well, that's that's that I'm going say like uh Mr. Mr. Brock, y'all

[1:29:45] smart. Y'all figure it out. >> Thank you. Anybody else? Mr. Schultz.

[1:29:51] » Yes. So, >> Mr. Butcher. Oh,

[1:29:54] » you didn't stand up quick enough. Sorry, >> young man. You should have jumped right

[1:29:58] up. >> You got to go back to training.

[1:30:02] » Jonathan Butcher 216. Good news. Belchase. Uh, as we said before, there

[1:30:07] needs to be funding for EMS. I think everybody in this room agrees with that.

[1:30:11] There's been talks and I think everybody's been trying. Uh, we have

[1:30:14] some ideas as a fire department we want to uh bring to y'all's attention and

[1:30:20] maybe we could try to uh figure this thing out. But when we talk about 50% of

[1:30:24] the tax, and I'm not going to get into it uh too much, we have 12 stations that

[1:30:29] we're taking care of. We have 65 employees that we have versus one

[1:30:34] office, what do we add? 20 employees. I mean, so you want to take 50% of

[1:30:39] something and we have three times the amount of equipment. We have 40 pieces

[1:30:43] of apparatus that we have to deal with. So we are committed and uh to help fund

[1:30:52] uh or come up not not help fund but come up with ideas to uh try to make this

[1:30:56] work. Uh uh and we want to work with the administration to come and uh just give

[1:31:01] some ideas to help y'all uh make a more informed decision on that. Thank you.

[1:31:07] » Mr. Hankley on two

[1:31:13] » Josie Arnold. I live at 35935 Highway 23 Beerus, Louisiana. I've been with

[1:31:18] Plaqueman's Parish EMS for about 3 years now. August 23. I started Plaemens. I

[1:31:24] left Aadian. When I left Aadian, I was making $34 an hour. I came home to work

[1:31:32] for Plaqueman's Parish because one, I was tired of the burnout and two, I knew

[1:31:37] this parish needed paramedics. I got my paramedic through Aadian on a

[1:31:43] contract. So I owed them three years. Been a paramedic for six going on seven

[1:31:47] years now. Under no circumstances has Aadian ever

[1:31:53] provided the best care they could. And I know the direction that the parish is

[1:31:58] going when we talk about put EMS under fire and then fire don't want to deal

[1:32:05] with us and we all quit because we don't want to be under fire. We're two

[1:32:08] separate entities, two separate cultures, two separate purposes to this

[1:32:12] parish, to the residents that we have an obligation to fulfill. Um, under no

[1:32:18] circumstances will I stay or 99% of this department stay if we go that route.

[1:32:25] However, I will let you know that when we pull Kadian in, they will not fulfill

[1:32:30] their obligations. And I have talked to Reverend Edwards when I started because

[1:32:35] James Windstrom asked me to explain to him the truth behind Aadian's morale and

[1:32:42] um their business plans. I work in Beerus on unit 1894 7 days a

[1:32:49] week. I as a resident feel this parish deserves a funded source

[1:32:57] because not just my family but my boyfriend's family, my cousins,

[1:33:03] residents, their family, everyone down the roads related or knows somebody some

[1:33:07] kind of way. We all deserve real EMS that will respond. We always talk about

[1:33:15] um we don't have a plan. We don't have a plan. How can we have a plan if we don't

[1:33:19] have the funds to sustain our plans? Shannon and I have been trying. I'm

[1:33:25] Shannon's unofficial help. I do everything I can to make sure I can make

[1:33:30] her be successful cuz I love her to death. And I want this parish to work. I

[1:33:35] want this EMS department to be great like it was back in 2010, 2015 when we

[1:33:41] had six ambulances in Plaeman's parish. We can't put six ambulances up right now

[1:33:46] when we don't have the people. We're fighting for civil service to get us

[1:33:51] people through the hiring process, but that takes 10 business months. Um, we

[1:33:57] don't have the funding. Even 25 to 30% of that parish sales tax,

[1:34:05] it's the people's money, not fires, the people's money, will help us get housing

[1:34:11] for these people to put up more ambulances. It will help us get more

[1:34:16] ambulances, to get people on the road. It will help us improve response times,

[1:34:21] buy better equipment. you know, we're we would look better if we had more than

[1:34:26] three ambulances, but how are we going to do that with all of our roadblocks?

[1:34:31] You know, Butcher came up here and said, um, he has 12. We have little equipment.

[1:34:38] And you're right, you do have 12, but the only reason you have that is you

[1:34:43] have permanent funding. You have um a better hiring process than we do. You

[1:34:50] don't have to do a circus act and jump through hula hoops to get people in the

[1:34:53] door. You have in-house training. We can't even do that. And Shannon tried

[1:34:59] through the state and we were approved to do educa in-house education. We can

[1:35:04] train our own EMS personnel from EMRs all the way up to advanced EMTs in house

[1:35:10] and give our own residents a place to start their careers.

[1:35:15] But how can we do that if we don't have permanent funding? This money is the

[1:35:20] people's money. 25 to 30% and keeping our revenue we pull in will be a huge

[1:35:27] help. We don't even need 50%. 30% will do a better budget for us. We won't have

[1:35:34] to beg and plead with the council every year to save our jobs because

[1:35:38] administration does feels like we're a burden. Every time we have to come up

[1:35:42] here and ask for a truck. Every time we have to come up here and

[1:35:47] ask for equipment and beg the council to help us,

[1:35:51] we look like jokes and like a burden. Your time's up. Thank you.

[1:35:59] » Thank you.

[1:36:02] » Miss Leah, you still want to talk? >> I Well, I have a couple of questions

[1:36:08] though. Uh Nancy Lehei, 426 Planners Canal Road, Belchase.

[1:36:14] How much do you collect? I I the 50/50 I understand that would be hard on

[1:36:22] » how much on the fire department >> tax on a 1%. Is that your question?

[1:36:26] » We're on pace for so the parish is 1% 12 million and then the fires is about 12

[1:36:32] million this year. It says 15 but we're on pace for about 12.

[1:36:36] » Okay. >> So fire is on pace to receive 12 million

[1:36:40] this year. So the fire could not operate or they

[1:36:45] would go under. Are you saying if they gave up say 25? Not not 50/50.

[1:36:52] » Correct. I'm going to address some of that. But yes.

[1:36:54] » Well, and and this listen, I lost my house. My house burned to the ground.

[1:37:01] That's a bad loss. But I would prefer an ambulance. If you

[1:37:07] have a loved one that is having a stroke and you know you need to get them to a

[1:37:13] facility within an hour for them to maybe be able to overcome

[1:37:18] that stroke, but they're laying there waiting and they become an invalid and

[1:37:23] need to be in a facility because we couldn't get ambulance people to them.

[1:37:28] That's unacceptable in today's day and time. That is

[1:37:33] absolutely unacceptable. I don't think you need to spend 120,000 for a study.

[1:37:39] You have Jefferson Parish that successfully operates. You have I I

[1:37:44] think that we have people smart enough. You can do your own study and you can

[1:37:50] figure out what you need, what absolutely you've got to have to be able

[1:37:56] to maintain a an ambulance service that's adequate enough that they can get

[1:38:01] you to a facility if you've had a stroke or or a number of things. But it can

[1:38:08] save lives, heart attacks, but a stroke is it's terrible that because you

[1:38:15] couldn't get the care you needed within that first hour that you're an envelope

[1:38:20] for life. That's not acceptable. Not in any parish, not in the United States of

[1:38:25] America. I'm going to tell you right now. And if I have to choose between

[1:38:30] fire, you can have my house and everything and it can burn down. I live

[1:38:34] through that. But I depended on this on this ambulance

[1:38:40] service who service my husband who was very ill and

[1:38:45] I would not trade that. I can tell you right now it's all I have to say.

[1:38:50] » Thank you.

[1:38:56] » You got to come up to the mic. >> You can't you got to come up to the mic.

[1:39:15] My name is Robin A. Thomas. I'm security for y'all as the council. I live at 107

[1:39:21] Planets Canal Road. >> I can't talk about it. Take your time.

[1:39:27] » Deep breath. Take your time. >> I got sick when I went down to the

[1:39:32] courthouse and I called it for 9 minutes without EMS. I

[1:39:38] would not be here. >> Come on.

[1:39:40] » I would not be here without EMS. I went to my mom. I couldn't go upstairs

[1:39:45] because the power was out. And most of y'all didn't know how bad off I was.

[1:39:50] And the guy looked down and he said, "Miss Robin, you can't come up because

[1:39:54] the elevators are locked up." And he said, "Go tell your mom. I'mma call you

[1:39:59] when the power come on." I got there and I collapsed and without EMS coming. I

[1:40:06] coded for 9 minutes at the hospital when they got me there. I would not be here

[1:40:13] to work for you all, to work for myself. I would not be here if it wasn't for

[1:40:17] EMS. I'm being honest with you. And I know in

[1:40:20] the east bank we only got one truck. I worked the truck for 10 years years ago,

[1:40:27] me and Gerald Williams. And it's hard when you got one truck coming from

[1:40:32] coming from going up or coming down. But it was a lot. It was a lot. I'm just

[1:40:39] telling y'all the ambulance service is very crucial. We got to have it cuz

[1:40:45] without them, I would not be here today. >> Thank you. I truly wouldn't.

[1:40:50] I had to tell y'all this cuz you know I work for y'all. I work with y'all and

[1:40:55] y'all most of y'all didn't know I coded and I coded for nine minutes the doctor

[1:41:00] said and it wasn't for them I would not be

[1:41:04] here. >> Thank you Miss Robin.

[1:41:13] » Mr. Schultz Mr. >> Yes sir. Okay. Like I I'm going to let

[1:41:19] you talk your numbers and everything there, Chris, here in just a second. But

[1:41:23] look, this is >> this is an issue from day one. I was

[1:41:28] part of the one 1% sales tax for the fire that they got right now. And it was

[1:41:34] brought to our attention we could have gotten away with uh a half a cent, but

[1:41:38] you know, we took a shot. We said, you know what? If we can't get by with a

[1:41:43] half a cent, we'll never be able to go back and get any more. So that's when we

[1:41:48] chose to do the one 1% sales tax. I truly believe that the fire department

[1:41:54] can get by. I'm not saying the 50/50, but what we've been we've been exploring

[1:42:00] as an administration, we feel that we can get a portion that that portion

[1:42:05] might be 30% that can go to EMS and the other 70% can go to fire. Look, the

[1:42:13] parish government where it doesn't only depend on the sales tax revenues. We

[1:42:18] have advalorum. We have other sources of revenue, but the parish government for

[1:42:22] the most part, a lot right now depends on 1 cent sales tax and we have to work

[1:42:28] and live within those means. So if we're at 70 for the fire department, we have

[1:42:35] to start focusing and look at the monies that we have and that's where we start.

[1:42:41] We live within that budget. EMS, if they've got that 30%. They have to live

[1:42:47] within that budget. And I'm going to tell you, I really do take offense when

[1:42:51] I heard the young lady just say that EMS is a burden on this administration

[1:42:57] because day one, I think all of you know from day one, I have been saying that we

[1:43:03] can take this, we can redirect a portion of this sales tax revenues goes towards

[1:43:09] EMS. So, I'm going to yield the floor, Chris.

[1:43:14] You can talk talk your numbers, but we are exploring this through the finance

[1:43:20] department. >> Go ahead,

[1:43:26] » Shane Laroo, EMS manager. I would like to apologize for any offense. It was not

[1:43:30] meant that way. Um we feel that is our personal feelings

[1:43:36] discussions that are had multiple numerous discussions and decisions that

[1:43:40] are made on behalf of EMS. I do not have a seat at that table. I do not have a

[1:43:46] voice. I am not asked any questions and it's kind of insulting to me that a

[1:43:54] competent service would be the option to come in without any questions asked to

[1:44:01] me. I live this every day with these guys. I get paid 40 hours salary. If we

[1:44:09] don't have somebody on a truck, I do my job and I cover a truck.

[1:44:14] We're doing the best that we can. We're just asking for the necessities that we

[1:44:19] need to provide the best care that the people in this parish deserve, residents

[1:44:24] and visitors alike. That's all. I just wanted to apologize

[1:44:30] for that. It was not anything to offend anyone, but if I don't if I withhold any

[1:44:37] information and I don't speak about things, I can't get upset for no one

[1:44:41] helping. I'm not going to debate.

[1:44:46] Uh, are you finished? >> Yes.

[1:44:48] » Okay. But I told you last year it has been a crazy up and

[1:44:55] down back and forth road for EMS since I've been parish president.

[1:44:58] » Correct. >> I told you last year, you guys relax. I

[1:45:03] will see that EMS has funded. You're not going to lose your jobs because of lack

[1:45:08] of funding. Okay? And I saw to that this past year and I will see that in the

[1:45:13] future as well. Okay. So, let's move forward. Let's let's hear what the

[1:45:18] council's got to say and then we can move on because we're not going to be

[1:45:21] voting on this today, are we? >> No, but up. So, we felt they had

[1:45:27] » I have to disagree with your your little thing there.

[1:45:31] » Uh, if you was forgetting the 1% sales tax, some of it to them, it would have

[1:45:37] been done three years ago instead of Mr. Bill of France doing it a couple weeks

[1:45:41] ago. Then every budget you've given us so far you've been in office has been

[1:45:47] without ambulance. This board put up the money.

[1:45:50] » Okay. >> Three years in a row.

[1:45:51] » Again, I'm not going to find right now about that. And Chris,

[1:45:56] » have I not did I not come to you early in with redirecting some of these sales

[1:46:02] tax revenues? That's a yes or no answer. >> And and what did I say?

[1:46:08] I want a plan. How what are we going to do with the excess funding? Not because

[1:46:13] it won't be excess funding. Now, I'm going to talk about that. So, you done?

[1:46:17] I don't want to. Okay. So, I want to answer some of the questions that were

[1:46:21] asked and then talk about it. So, the date technically

[1:46:25] it cannot go on November 3rd unless the bond commission has another hearing,

[1:46:30] which normally they do, but there's no guarantee. So, it can could still go on

[1:46:35] the November 3rd ballot. We just don't know. Okay. Fire surplus.

[1:46:41] The intent of that was station repairs. Now, can we use that money with six

[1:46:46] votes for anything in fire? Yes. But we can't if we vote on this, it's not like

[1:46:52] that money can just half of it go to or 30% or whatever we agree to go to EMS

[1:46:57] because that money is already in the fire fund. It was prior to sales tax,

[1:47:02] all that. So, one of the other reasons why the prior

[1:47:07] taxes failed was because they most of this council was not on the

[1:47:12] board then, but they they had too much. They were asking for too much. They had

[1:47:16] five taxes on the first try, three on the second try. It was not a good time

[1:47:21] to be asking for that many. EMS, if it was by itself and probably recreation,

[1:47:25] those two probably would have passed. Those were the two closest to passing.

[1:47:30] So I you can ask Mr. Butcher. I said I have

[1:47:35] been saying that I will support it going on the ballot.

[1:47:41] If we have a plan on what we're going to do, I think we need two units on the

[1:47:46] east bank. I need think we need another two units on the West Bank.

[1:47:51] How much does that cost us? How how do we change our schedule? I'm not saying

[1:47:55] we can implement it right now, but come to now I'm not saying y'all, but

[1:48:00] administration, yes, you try to come early on, but I said I want a plan. What

[1:48:04] are we going to do with the funding? If you come to us and say, "Here's what

[1:48:08] it's going to cost." Finance can then run the numbers and 25%.

[1:48:14] Go let the people decide. I agree with that. But I don't want to just vote in

[1:48:19] this case 50%. What are we doing? What are we doing?

[1:48:23] I've been I've been talking to Shannon. I've been talking to Butcher. I've been

[1:48:28] talking to Jeff for three years saying, "How do we fix EMS?"

[1:48:33] Every time Shannon or Jeff says, "Let's change a position. Let's add a position.

[1:48:38] Let's buy a new ambulance." Normally, it's been under my name.

[1:48:43] Am I right? I support EMS. I You again, you can ask

[1:48:48] Mr. Butcher. I said if it ever comes with a plan and a reasonable request,

[1:48:53] sorry, it's going on the ballot. Let the people decide. So to say, oh, we're not

[1:48:58] fire doesn't want to share or whatever. I do I think the people do need to

[1:49:03] decide, but we need to know what we need. How many people how do we need at

[1:49:08] put a station? Do we need to buy new ambulances? I don't know. I'm not EMS

[1:49:14] expert. I'm not a fire expert, but I know more fire than EMS. But that's what

[1:49:20] we need. Mr. Champagne has preached for years when we appropriate money, where

[1:49:25] did this number come from, right? That's why we have to make an informed

[1:49:30] decision. Where is these numbers coming from? 50% 25% 30%.

[1:49:35] It could be 10. It could be 30. It might need to be 40. The other question is,

[1:49:40] uh, if it's 30%, I think fire would operate at about a $2 million loss per

[1:49:46] year. um which is survivable an EMS whatever I

[1:49:51] think that was on the 30. So another thing is I don't think this

[1:49:57] council and I don't think this administration based on the last talk we

[1:50:00] had I don't think there is a desire to put fire and EMS combined anymore. That

[1:50:07] didn't work last time. It's not going to work this time. Now, what we want to do,

[1:50:12] this council, everything y'all have come to, and you're not a burden,

[1:50:17] we budgeted. Habbo talked about 2 years ago when it wasn't funded, we refunded.

[1:50:22] And we assured you leading up to those budget hearings, y'all will be funded.

[1:50:26] Y'all will always be funded. We will cut funding in other areas before we cut

[1:50:30] EMS. So, um I want to talk send me an email and why because I remember working

[1:50:36] with you Shannon on the training through the state and doing a lot of stuff in

[1:50:41] house. Why can't we do that? Because that was supposed to save us money and

[1:50:44] and do everything in house like fire does. So, I was not aware that that is

[1:50:49] not being done anymore because So, just email me please or go through Jeff and

[1:50:56] email me. But again, I don't think this council has a problem with putting it on

[1:51:01] the ballot. If we knew at least what the

[1:51:08] long-term vision was, two units on the east bank, three, well, we have two now.

[1:51:14] Three more units, maybe even only two on the West Bank. That's what I think. Am I

[1:51:19] a EMS expert? Absolutely not. But I know we need more units, which means more

[1:51:24] people, which means more staffing, crews, supplies. So, is that an extra $3

[1:51:31] million a year, 2 million? I don't know that answer until we get a plan. So,

[1:51:36] when we say come with a plan, we're not saying implement it, but we we need to

[1:51:40] know. So, I yield. >> Mr. Nome. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[1:51:46] » A lot of talk. Yeah. Um just let me and through the budgetary process uh Miss

[1:51:53] Connovich was correct in his statement. So about the council we have funded it

[1:51:57] but just a just a reminder we talked about asking for funds. Uh civil service

[1:52:04] is a huge issue and a problem. We non administration we trying to fix it. We

[1:52:11] we that that's a that's a problem that's if we could we'd fix it tomorrow yet it

[1:52:16] would have been fixed three years ago when we came in office three and a half

[1:52:19] years ago when we came in office but we can't it's it's it's what it is is what

[1:52:24] it is with civil service so throwing it the the hiring practice and telling us

[1:52:28] that it's it's council administration that's totally false it's not our we we

[1:52:32] are trying we're trying we formed a committee to help civil service to try

[1:52:35] to get these things I I don't think it went anywhere I tell you the truth it

[1:52:39] probably didn't go nowhere through hard work by the administration and some

[1:52:42] council members on here that sat on here. So again, let's let's just be

[1:52:46] right when we when we when we talk about things personnel and and let me back up

[1:52:51] and and you y'all can talk to Miss Shannon. She knows I'm I am a supporter

[1:52:54] of EMS and she when y'all get back you can ask her about that if y'all like

[1:52:59] personnel that you have. I don't know how many vacancies you have now, but

[1:53:02] that's a civil service issue. But those vacancies 14 14 civil service 14 civil

[1:53:08] service vacancies. Guess what? Those vacancies are funded. Funded. Ready to

[1:53:13] go. It's not the administration. It's not the councils. That That's not We put

[1:53:17] money in there at the budget to to man get your manpower straight. And you

[1:53:22] probably as as I I I know less than Chris knows about EMS. I don't know.

[1:53:27] Hopefully, you guys are doing a great job. Hopefully, I don't see you. So, but

[1:53:33] we all talked about, you know, when we come up with this type of legislation,

[1:53:38] we just throwing money at it's a EMS is a problem. We just throwing doing this,

[1:53:42] we just throwing money at a problem and that don't never that will not fix it.

[1:53:47] That will not If you throw money at a problem, it's not going to fix it. We go

[1:53:50] back through history and say does not fix it. Having a well-defined and and

[1:53:55] Mr. Schultz said, I guess I'm repeating him, a plan of what we need. We know

[1:53:59] what we know what it cost to run EMS. We know that we got those. We know our

[1:54:03] revenue. We know our uh revenues. We we take in those are not set in stone, but

[1:54:09] we got a good idea over the last few years. So, let's get together. I think

[1:54:13] as as you know, somebody said people are smart with the administration, council,

[1:54:18] EMS, fire. Let's get together and let's try. You know, let's see what we really

[1:54:23] do need. Again, I I I I'm can't throw money at a problem and think it's just

[1:54:27] going to fix itself. It that that just don't work. So, just wanted to

[1:54:31] straighten some things out about personnel and about um some things about

[1:54:35] the budget. And with that, I yield, Mr. Chairman. Miss McCordi.

[1:54:39] » Thank you. Everyone in here is passionate about the

[1:54:44] needs because we all recognize the need. So, no one's going to deny that. Um

[1:54:52] we do need funding, but we also need I think this is where Mr. Schultz was

[1:54:58] going. We need to have some financials to know what actually is needed. We

[1:55:04] could look at your calls. Where are the general locations of the calls? How much

[1:55:09] are you taking back from Medicare, Medicaid, insurance?

[1:55:15] Are we doing the collections? Are we actually receiving that money? You know

[1:55:19] there are a lot of variables that in the case and last meeting that we had down

[1:55:23] in Port Sulfur I asked if administration would get asked the accountant to pull

[1:55:29] up this information. So with that information we can make a factual

[1:55:33] decision. What you gave it to somebody?

[1:55:39] Oh well I got it today. Okay. Thank you. Not all of us received

[1:55:44] that. So we'll look at that. I'll run the

[1:55:48] numbers and I'll get back to you or and I'll talk to Mr. Schultz, you know. So,

[1:55:53] no one's denying that you need money. And as

[1:55:58] uh Mr. Hinckley said, it looks like there's a willingness from everyone to

[1:56:04] share some of that revenue, but we need to know factually how much. Also, since

[1:56:10] I've been in office, I've been talking about trying to get a training program.

[1:56:14] I've taken my premeds and I think that someone who has gone through two classes

[1:56:20] of AP which requires two years. Okay. Right. So they're already they've

[1:56:26] already passed that. If they want tuition assistance, they can come, they

[1:56:31] can get their EMS certification, whichever level after they've taken

[1:56:36] those classes, and it will be faster for them because they have taken those

[1:56:39] classes, and then work for us in exchange for tuition uh repayment when

[1:56:45] they go back to school. You have what?

[1:56:51] » Okay. Well, I do know that um Mr. DeMarco and I believe Mr. Marco has

[1:56:56] talked to some schools about that, but I've talked to Holy Cross about that and

[1:57:00] they're willing to put together a program. We just need help with that.

[1:57:03] Okay. So, um don't think that we're turning a blind eye or a deaf ear. We're

[1:57:09] very concerned, you know. Thank you, >> Mr. Edwards.

[1:57:14] » Yeah. Uh you know, we throw this word around and

[1:57:18] say, um we are smart, but we are not smart. We are dumb when it come down to

[1:57:25] politic p power and our passion. We are dumb when it come down to prioritizing

[1:57:31] what is the most serious thing they need. Uh I I heard Mr. Hayes get up

[1:57:36] there and talked about she said it very clear when it come down to house and and

[1:57:41] her husband are different. We heard Robin talk about how she coded for nine

[1:57:45] men. I think the ambulance thing we're not giving it to priority we should. I

[1:57:49] was very happy to hear the president saying that they on board do that. I

[1:57:53] really was happy and and I would say that I know all the time in politics you

[1:57:57] know we wear our sleeves on our field any day we can disagree with something

[1:58:00] and some of us like myself are very passionate when we talk and it rubs us

[1:58:05] off so we get the feeling and so the the community is penalized because a

[1:58:09] councilman feeling a person feel because we have our feelings on our sleeve you

[1:58:13] know that make us dumb when it come down to making decisions. So I just think

[1:58:17] that to me the numbers I'm not a number man but the fact that somebody one one

[1:58:23] agent got this much of surplus when people lie at stake you don't have to be

[1:58:28] a rocket scientist to figure that we need to make a decision on that because

[1:58:32] you got this sitting here for years and years you're not repairing stuff but the

[1:58:36] money they're preparing and you got people almost dying because they don't

[1:58:40] like s what we have to do to prove that we are smart we have to make this a

[1:58:45] priority And we got to leave our politics out of

[1:58:47] it. Who's saying it? And atone in what they're saying. We have enough people in

[1:58:52] in in this parish who capable of making things happen. You know, we talk about

[1:58:58] not having training program and our training program. We have somebody like

[1:59:02] Mr. DeMarco, Mr. Mark I always put on the spot that I know with her resources

[1:59:06] so we can make but we just got to make it a priority. We got to make it a

[1:59:10] priority. And I I believe in the power of of the voters. voters will make the

[1:59:15] right decision. And if we put something to the voters, nobody can't blame no

[1:59:19] member of this council because the people speak. If we really truly believe

[1:59:22] in the power of the people and let the people make that decision, but we

[1:59:27] control that because how we plan our part. So we need to stop and really act

[1:59:32] like we smart and stop making these dumb political decision that we making and

[1:59:38] making decision based on our passion. That's what really cuz let me just say

[1:59:42] I'm not the par president Mr. ain't but people come to me stuff that you

[1:59:46] responsible for I get blamed for it y'all ain't doing nothing y'all ain't

[1:59:50] doing this you know and I'm like I'm just one little councilman with less

[1:59:54] stroke than anybody you know but we take it and I take it people actually curse

[1:59:58] me out wrongly >> we're responsible

[2:00:01] » but I'm just saying I'm I'm I'm saying that to you to say but I accept it even

[2:00:05] because I'm a part of the Paris government so I accept that people knock

[2:00:08] on my door I have to accept that so again this is a life and death

[2:00:14] situation. I I say this and and Mr. uh Lefran said it really good.

[2:00:20] I I I much prefer my house burn down to lose my I lose any member of my family

[2:00:26] cuz I can rebuild that house. I cannot get a life back when we talk about fire.

[2:00:32] Well, and I know this the fire department I see on East Bank and

[2:00:36] Ambulance were very close together. They're the one that's always dead

[2:00:40] before the ambulance get out. So, how can we make that as a continuous

[2:00:44] relationship with each other? Because the two should work together. I know we

[2:00:47] say it didn't work, but maybe didn't work because we were being done with our

[2:00:51] politics and our passion. That's why it didn't work before. And sometime we got

[2:00:55] to accept what it is. If we think it's a need to put EMS and the fire department

[2:00:59] together, if the need is there and we got the will and the gust and courage to

[2:01:03] do it, we can make it work because people don't have no choice but to make

[2:01:07] it work. Either you make it work or you leave. That's the issue though. But we

[2:01:11] give we give certain people in position too much of power. That's the problem.

[2:01:15] We got too much power in one hand. I yield with that.

[2:01:19] » Mr. Schultz. >> What? Mr. Speaker,

[2:01:24] » Mr. Champagne, >> I asked uh Commissioner Schultz because

[2:01:28] mine's going to be short. I know he's going to probably close with some good

[2:01:31] stuff cuz he really in the weeds on this stuff. I just didn't want my lack of

[2:01:34] speaking to show I wasn't concerned. I'm very concerned. Mr. Wingstrom, you said

[2:01:38] something that really struck a chord with me. and you said we're a

[2:01:40] life-saving team and y'all are y'all do a great job both fire and EMS. Can y'all

[2:01:45] get together and come up with a plan and realistically take a look at it and give

[2:01:48] us a plan where you really look at the money you have on the table and say Mr.

[2:01:52] you know, fire, we can live with this. EMS, we can get by with this. I I'm

[2:01:57] committed as a council to fill up the fill the voids, fill the shortages. And

[2:02:00] I think you've seen we've all done this. You guys have not done without and we'll

[2:02:04] make sure you can do that. But you are a life-saving team. And I'd like to see

[2:02:06] that team get together and give us a plan, you know, and you've seen and and

[2:02:11] I can say this that we will support you because you see what we do for

[2:02:13] infrastructure. Anytime an infrastructure need comes up here, we're

[2:02:16] all over it because we believe in taking care of the people of this parish. You

[2:02:20] ladies and gentlemen do a fantastic job. continue that effort. Give us something

[2:02:24] that we can put together, rally around, give it to our voters, let them decide

[2:02:28] and and you have my commitment. If there's any shortages with either one of

[2:02:32] your departments, I got your back. I yield,

[2:02:35] » Mr. Schultz. >> So, yes. Um, one thing that if it's not

[2:02:39] done automatically, if this does pass at the next meeting, it will create a

[2:02:43] special revenue and and then it passes the people, it will allow a special

[2:02:47] revenue fund to be created for EMS because it's now dedicate source

[2:02:52] funding. So that way it's easier to track everything, finances, expenses,

[2:02:57] all that. So, our legal counsel has told us that if we vote on it at the next

[2:03:02] meeting, it they will call a special meeting for the state bond commission.

[2:03:07] So, if we vote on it, it's going to get if we pass it, it will go on the

[2:03:12] November 3rd ballot. Now,

[2:03:17] I debated about this, but you know what? I'm going to go on record. I'll make an

[2:03:23] amendment at the next meeting because it sounds like 25% y'all happy with. I'm

[2:03:27] going to make an amendment for 25%. And I'm about to piss off fire, so I guess

[2:03:31] I'm not going training tonight, but I'll support it. But Jeff, I want a plan

[2:03:38] before November 3rd. If not, I will get with EMS.

[2:03:44] And when we if this passes the ballot, I'll start making ordinances on my own

[2:03:48] for ambulances, adding positions, whatever. But I'll go on record and say

[2:03:53] I will support this at 25%. Now, if y'all can get us a plan that maybe it

[2:03:58] needs 30%. Okay. But let the people decide and I'm

[2:04:03] tired of this for 3 years. But we I know Rev knows they need

[2:04:10] another ambulance on East Bank. I know that. Okay, let's see what the numbers

[2:04:14] cost. Habbo Le France knows they need another ambulance down the road at least

[2:04:19] one if not more somewhere else. So, we need those numbers, those plans. But

[2:04:25] I'll support 25%. I'll go on record because now that the state bond

[2:04:28] commission will hear it, let the people decide. I yield. Well, I'll I'll

[2:04:36] back your 25% if we go after the hospital and let them pay their bill

[2:04:42] that they owe us and the uh sheriff's department.

[2:04:49] » Thank you. Next item, please. >> A resolution authorizing the parish

[2:04:54] president on behalf of the plaqueman's parish government to name and accept the

[2:04:57] proposal of the plaqueman's gazette as the official journal for the plaque.

[2:05:02] » Yeah.

[2:05:09] » What? >> A2.

[2:05:14] » Hold on. Let me get to it. We we withdrew one

[2:05:20] » and reintroduced it. >> Yeah.

[2:05:24] » 982. An ordinance temporarily prohibiting parishwide the acceptance of

[2:05:28] new permit applications for certain billboards and outdoor advertising

[2:05:31] structures pending review and consideration of proposed amendments to

[2:05:34] the Plaqueman's Parish comprehensive zoning ordinance. Council member

[2:05:37] Schultz. This has changes.

[2:05:41] » Can you read the change? >> Yes.

[2:05:44] We are removing the old section 5 in its entirety and adding the following.

[2:05:52] Nothing herein shall prohibit the continued review, processing, approval,

[2:05:58] or denial of a per of permit applications for billboards or outdoor

[2:06:03] advertising structures received by the parish on or before May 28th, 2026.

[2:06:11] Such applications may continue to be processed notwithstanding the effective

[2:06:15] date of the or this ordinance. Any permit application for a billboard or

[2:06:21] outdoor advertising structure received after May 28th, 2026 shall not be

[2:06:26] accepted or considered by the parish. And there's

[2:06:30] » Mr. Schultz offers that second by Mr. Champagne. Any questions from the

[2:06:36] audience? administration

[2:06:39] council Mr. Schultz. >> So yes, when we modified the moratorum,

[2:06:46] I I'll I'll say I was guilty. I didn't read it closely enough. I thought only

[2:06:51] in certain areas along 23 was allowed to have billboards, but now I'm seeing

[2:06:57] them, let's be honest, in a neighborhood.

[2:07:01] two I think on Woodland Highway and some

[2:07:06] I think it's getting out of hand and I think we need what this does is put

[2:07:11] temporary uh uh

[2:07:15] pro prohibition until the zoning board can look at and change language but we

[2:07:21] we we're talk about improving the image of

[2:07:25] Plman's Parish and everything. I think we need to at least stop and look at

[2:07:29] what we have on the books until and then go from there because I I find it's I I

[2:07:34] admit I didn't read it closely enough. I thought it was only on 23 that they they

[2:07:38] could be um allowed outside that little zone, but um we got to do something

[2:07:44] because like I said in a neighborhood that we didn't vote on that because that

[2:07:48] was already allowed. The only thing we voted on a couple months ago was

[2:07:52] changing Highway 23 zone. So, uh, I think we need to do something. It's It's

[2:07:59] not making plaquemans look good. I yield.

[2:08:02] » Miss McCardy, >> I would like to offer that no billboards

[2:08:08] permanently in district 5 right now. And I would ask Mr. Sha Champagne that we

[2:08:13] talk about going from the inter coastal canal to the Mississippi River along

[2:08:17] Willen Highway. I don't I mean permanently because I'm

[2:08:22] tired of hearing about something after it's already been permitted. We don't

[2:08:27] get a notification when somebody's coming into our district. And I was told

[2:08:32] by the person that put up the sign, well, he had been working on that for a

[2:08:35] year with the state. I'm ready to just say none in district 5

[2:08:41] because I know we're going to expand Barry Road. I don't want any billboards

[2:08:47] over people's houses. So, can we modify this right now or do

[2:08:53] you want to do it? >> This is parish wide. So, I don't think I

[2:08:57] mean >> No, I don't want it temporary. I don't

[2:08:58] want to have to come back. I don't want to mistake this temporary

[2:09:03] new ordinance because this is just a temporary to the zoning board to look

[2:09:07] at. >> Okay.

[2:09:08] » Can we get that done, please? It's so it's it's temp we're doing temporary

[2:09:12] because the the billboard and advertising signs are actually in the

[2:09:17] zoning book and anytime and anytime you go to do an amendment to the zoning

[2:09:22] book, you have to have a hearing before the zoning board and follow all those

[2:09:25] rules and processes. So, um, so yes, we are working on a total ban, but it's

[2:09:33] something that has to be considered under state law and our own ordinances

[2:09:36] by the zoning board because we're literally changing the text of the

[2:09:40] zoning of the zoning book. So, we suggested that we do a temporary ban to

[2:09:45] have an opportunity for us to look at it and research the issue. And um the legal

[2:09:50] department was working with uh council member Schultz to enact legislation that

[2:09:54] I think is going to accomplish what you guys ultimately want to accomplish. But

[2:09:57] if you just do a complete ban total, a judge is going to look at that and say

[2:10:01] we did not follow is going to say we did not follow the process. So that's why

[2:10:05] we're doing what we're doing.

[2:10:09] » What he just explained it had to go. >> I had a

[2:10:14] » Okay. I would like to talk to Mr. Champagne about Woodland Highway that I

[2:10:18] don't think in our over our neighborhoods from inter coastal canal

[2:10:21] all the way to the Mississippi River there going to be any need for a big

[2:10:24] billboard and we have also I'd like to also include in that monument signs

[2:10:31] along Woodsland Highway. So I'd recommend next week whoever is

[2:10:35] interested in this obviously Miss McCarti is and Mr. Champagne and Mr.

[2:10:38] Scholes, we can meet in the president's office and you guys can kind of outline

[2:10:41] the parameters that you would like us to submit to the zoning board for for

[2:10:46] consideration. >> Thank you. I yield,

[2:10:49] » Edwards. >> So, what do we do about those folks who

[2:10:51] already got signs out? >> Are they grandfather?

[2:10:54] » That's done. Yeah, that's done. >> That's done. That's over. Yeah.

[2:10:59] » Huh? >> They're grandfathered in.

[2:11:00] » That's what I'm saying. So, we have so many grandfathered in that really super

[2:11:04] » Well, it's not that it's grandfathered in. is that the the the zoning book

[2:11:08] doesn't require council approval for those billboards. So, that is one of the

[2:11:12] things that the the the uh permit office has done under the law and the law was

[2:11:16] written pretty generously in that regard. Maybe it shouldn't have been,

[2:11:19] but that's the way the law was written and the and the permit department was

[2:11:22] issuing permits as it's authorized to do. Well, I don't you think people might

[2:11:27] have a legal ground when we talk about they can't do it when they can say,

[2:11:31] "Well, there's 10 on Highway 23 that's superized and then not only on big

[2:11:37] signs, they're in people yards, you know." Yeah. I don't know why we doing

[2:11:42] this, but I'm just saying >> I'm not disputing that at all. And I

[2:11:44] think that's what we need to consider in the permanent legislation. So, you know,

[2:11:48] anyone who has input on how they want that to look and obviously you have a

[2:11:52] rural area, so you you may be more inclined to allow some signs with other

[2:11:56] restrictions, we certainly would want your input on that, but um that's going

[2:12:00] to be the time to do that next week if you guys want to meet.

[2:12:02] » And then when it come down to election, you know, how how do you um

[2:12:07] » well, the council can require us to come back to you guys with that. So if y'all

[2:12:11] say this is such an obstruction and you know whatever and to the extent they're

[2:12:15] limited in certain areas, you can consider that just like you would any

[2:12:18] zoning change. You know, what are the neighbors saying? What is the local

[2:12:21] impact? You know, is it close to you know, whatever. So that that all of that

[2:12:25] is on the table for consideration. >> Yeah. because I I just think that I know

[2:12:28] I served on the zoning board for almost 10 years and you'll have to come in with

[2:12:33] resident bringing signal to the show this is not one disgruntled person

[2:12:38] because they got a big house and they don't want this side but it's okay

[2:12:42] because I don't have a big house I could have a big sign there. So I just think

[2:12:46] there should be some consistency in what we're talking about and doing it um

[2:12:51] because I know we do a lot of stuff based on on our passion and our

[2:12:55] politics, you know. So, I just want to throw that out.

[2:13:00] » Yes. I'm glad you joined cuz all them lawyers on them billboards going to be a

[2:13:05] class action shoot. >> Mr. Newsome.

[2:13:09] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Mr. Show, can I We do have a ordinance about signs

[2:13:17] by billboards. Correct. from the inter coastal canal to

[2:13:21] just >> that air base or something like that.

[2:13:25] » That's past the air. Past >> I think Walker Road maybe.

[2:13:28] » So where's the where's the current that I should know cuz I know it starts at

[2:13:32] the inter coastal canal going south. >> Okay.

[2:13:38] » I should have I should have did my research so I'd have known that answer

[2:13:41] but I might know it. I might just see if you know it. So right now on highway 23

[2:13:46] only or billboards are allowed everywhere on in the parish except for

[2:13:51] on highway 23 between the inter coastal canal and

[2:13:57] la receipt I think. >> Okay. So

[2:13:59] » somewhere in there's a certain point. All right. So it's

[2:14:02] » alliance let's just say there. >> So everywhere else it's allowed right

[2:14:05] now. >> It's allowed

[2:14:08] besides on 23 between those two areas. >> Is it allowed? So you and you spoke

[2:14:12] about a neighborhood. They have a sign in the neighborhood.

[2:14:15] » Yes. In for St. Leon North, >> but is that prop? That property is owned

[2:14:20] probably commercial. >> Commercial is own commercial, but it's

[2:14:22] still in a neighborhood. >> Really?

[2:14:25] » Well, the business is in the neighborhood, too. Correct. So, we're

[2:14:27] going to shut a business down cuz it's in the neighborhood.

[2:14:29] » No. >> Okay. I'm just saying the property is

[2:14:32] zoned commercial. >> Correct. And that's what we're going to

[2:14:34] change in the zone part of the zoning rules. like we it still might be able to

[2:14:39] go up but they have to take certain >> or I mean there might be certain ch

[2:14:43] language changes correct it's a language change

[2:14:46] » this thing can be written however you guys want I mean

[2:14:48] » this is just putting a temporary ban until we can get in the zoning book

[2:14:51] correctly >> so it says

[2:14:54] » temporar certain billboards and outdoor advertising do we do we have we decided

[2:14:59] have we talked about a size >> that's where the monument

[2:15:03] » display exceeding 100 square feet and sign face area whether on prem premises

[2:15:08] or off premises. It's uh section two. >> Okay. I apologize. It's there. So, if I

[2:15:13] got a and I know when I travel the southern end of the parish, um you know,

[2:15:19] you got a lot of folks out there got signs in their yard about charter

[2:15:22] fishing. Charter fishing. They got seafood for sale in their yard. We're

[2:15:26] going to >> I don't think that's over 100 square

[2:15:28] feet. Okay. So, 100 square feet is >> that one of them pretty big,

[2:15:32] » but it's already there. So, it's already permit or supposed to be. So, but goes

[2:15:36] back to Reverend Elvis. So, we're going to tell this person, you can have a big

[2:15:40] sign yard, but from now you can't have a big sign yard because it's hard. I I I

[2:15:44] just think >> what what this does is if we want to if

[2:15:47] we need to find out, okay, how long how big are their signs? It might we might

[2:15:52] change the language to no signs bigger than 150 ft. That's what this is doing.

[2:15:58] Just putting a temporary ban into it can go before the zoning board. Mr. Brocks,

[2:16:02] you're hearing all these comments, right? You're on that board. So that's

[2:16:06] what this does. It's not permanent or anything like that until we can get a

[2:16:11] zoning change that way when it goes to permits in the future. And and Mr.

[2:16:16] Newsome, your your your examples are covered in section 3. So it says nothing

[2:16:19] herein shall prohibit customary on premise business signs, which is what

[2:16:23] you're talking about like charter businesses and whatnot, that advertise

[2:16:26] or identify a business, product, service, or activity lawfully conducted

[2:16:30] on the same premises. comply with all applicable parish zoning, permitting,

[2:16:33] size, height, setback sign relations, and approved through the normal course

[2:16:37] of business. So, anything 100 and less um is going to be permitted and those

[2:16:42] are the typical signs that you're talking about.

[2:16:46] » All right. I'm I'm Thank you, Mr. Jarage.

[2:16:50] » Yes. Uh I know we say it temporary just means until we get the zoning ordinance,

[2:16:55] » correct? That's all I had. Miss McCart. >> Um, Mr. Beers, did you just say anything

[2:17:02] under 100 foot wide? No. >> No. Uh, 100 square total square feet.

[2:17:06] » Square feet. Okay. >> To me, that's still even big is still

[2:17:11] permitted. You know, um the biggest problem I have with the experience that

[2:17:18] I just had with putting a billboard in district 5 on Highway 23 is that I was

[2:17:25] told that the state permitted it. I'd like to know if that's true. And then

[2:17:30] our our permit office doesn't even come to us and say, "Guess what? There's huge

[2:17:36] things coming up in your district. You know, what do you think about it?" So I

[2:17:40] want to work on that aspect of it too. That's all I'm saying.

[2:17:44] » I think the only thing the aspect that the state what they say they take a look

[2:17:49] at the sign whether or not it impedes on any kind of the vision with All right.

[2:17:55] » Apparently it took a year for them to look at it and

[2:17:59] » and we didn't know until the day it was in the ground.

[2:18:04] » Mr. Schultz. So, I somewhat get what you're saying on not

[2:18:09] knowing, but do they come tell you on every house being built in district 5

[2:18:13] that's permit? No, it's not. It's a permit through the permit office.

[2:18:17] » We cannot legally we cannot write a law for

[2:18:21] everything because it it would just take up too much. But anything that's really

[2:18:26] disruptive, >> Hava says we have a law.

[2:18:30] » Got to go to the permit office to do anything.

[2:18:32] » Yeah. So I mean they should let maybe for

[2:18:34] » right now we need to put temporary in my view put temporary ban till we can get

[2:18:38] hold of what's actually on the zoning book. So that's what this is. I call the

[2:18:42] question. >> I'm in favor for it.

[2:18:44] » Question's been called. >> Jean's open.

[2:18:50] I don't have enough.

[2:18:54] » You want >> variable?

[2:18:56] » Verable. >> And it passes seven with one. No vote.

[2:19:03] » I don't know. I didn't vote. No, you just

[2:19:05] » not vote. Not vote. Not vote. >> But not voting.

[2:19:12] » Good move.

[2:19:16] » G. A resolution authorizing the parish president on behalf of the Plaqueman's

[2:19:20] Parish government to name and accept the proposal of the Plaqueman's Gazette as

[2:19:23] the official journal for the Plaqueman's Parish Council and all other political

[2:19:26] subdivision and districts situated there in of which the Plaemens Parish Council

[2:19:30] is the governing authority. Council member Cotnovich

[2:19:35] » I'll offer this cuz it was putting on my name but

[2:19:40] » ask for a second. >> Second by Mrs. Jurisage. Any questions

[2:19:45] from the audience? >> Aging

[2:19:49] G. >> Second do

[2:19:54] the devil shakes. Hey, I'm going support the cassette again. We need print. We

[2:19:59] need print. Especially today. I know everybody put everything online. But

[2:20:04] what about AI? AI going to tell a tale one day, but if it's in print, can't

[2:20:10] race it.

[2:20:17] Clarence Box 156 Enis came. Uh I'm I'm in favor of the Gazette also because uh

[2:20:25] I have advanced since last time I came representing the uh the Gazette. My old

[2:20:31] flip phone broke and I got another one. So I It's a flip phone. Yeah, I was able

[2:20:37] to get one. >> Maybe it's an

[2:20:39] » I was able to get one. But uh everybody don't do do that technology and we we

[2:20:44] need to for a lot of people rather rather read it. But right now the the

[2:20:49] cell phones and all that kind of stuff is uh my grandchildren think they

[2:20:53] smarter than me because they could use a cell phone better than than I can. And I

[2:20:58] and I and I tell them uh the way I came up I had to read it. Y'all just putting

[2:21:04] it up. I asked him a question the other day

[2:21:07] about a p a certain person. No, but my car, my first car, how much I paid for

[2:21:12] it. And they told me exactly how much I paid for it, but I put it up on We need

[2:21:16] We need to go back to books. They It's too easy for them now. So, we need to be

[2:21:21] have them read it so they could get a good understanding of it. All right. All

[2:21:24] right. Thanks,

[2:21:34] Norris Babin, 114 Woodchase Street. I thank you all again for uh the

[2:21:40] opportunity to be before you and the good work that you do year long. I just

[2:21:45] wanted to say I know a lot's been said in the past uh

[2:21:51] from some members that don't care for uh or don't feel that the public notices

[2:21:57] should be printed in a paper in this time. And I get it and I appreciate your

[2:22:03] your uh opinion on that. Lately, we have been getting an increased amount of

[2:22:09] calls from sub uh subscribers and users of our service, some public notices. I

[2:22:17] had a call this week from an attorney's office. They ran a public notice in 2016

[2:22:24] and what they were looking for was proof that it was published for the court and

[2:22:30] they changed personnel and they could not prove it. Within 10 minutes, I

[2:22:35] emailed it to them. We get calls weekly for obituaries.

[2:22:42] I can't tell you how many people get emotional when I tell them there's

[2:22:48] no charge for it. I don't know. We might be an outline and we might be the last

[2:22:53] newspaper in the world that doesn't charge for it. But as long as we don't

[2:22:57] need to, we won't because we feel like it's a service for this for the

[2:23:03] communities that we serve. And you know, again, I appreciate your time. I

[2:23:09] appreciate your opinion. And thank you for uh your consideration.

[2:23:15] » Thank Mr. Schultz. >> We didn't get our paper in the building

[2:23:18] this week, just FYI, so that didn't that didn't go over well with us.

[2:23:26] What? >> The delivery person was sick.

[2:23:29] » I didn't I finally got to go there to get it.

[2:23:33] » Actually, my driver was sick and the stand in who's from down the road

[2:23:40] came up and I think they got lost in F. Edward Abear's consortium of buildings.

[2:23:47] Uh, so I apologize. I'll bring it to you tomorrow if you'd like.

[2:23:54] » All right. Thank you. >> We We didn't

[2:23:58] » Did you >> I think Crystal went and got it.

[2:24:02] » We We didn't go get it. Crystal went and got it.

[2:24:05] » Machines are open. >> Oh gosh. I get lost.

[2:24:14] » Mr. Edwards.

[2:24:22] » Yeah. passes with seven with one abstension.

[2:24:29] » H an ordinance to amend the 5-year capital improvement plan repairs Duvvic

[2:24:32] pump station project and otherwise to provide with respect there to council

[2:24:36] member Kovnovich. >> All pass for a second. Second by Mr.

[2:24:39] Jurisage. Any questions from the audience?

[2:24:43] Administration council machines open.

[2:24:53] Mr. Edwards

[2:24:57] pass is 80. I an ordinance to amend the five-year

[2:25:02] capital improvement plan repairs fire stations parishwide project and the new

[2:25:06] construction fire training facility project and otherwise to provide with

[2:25:10] respect there too council member >> Schultz

[2:25:13] for a second >> Mr. Schultz offers is there a second

[2:25:18] » second by Mrs. Jurich >> Mr. Schultz has an amendment

[2:25:25] » and an explanation.

[2:25:28] » Yes, sir. >> On line six, the words and $5 million to

[2:25:33] new construction fire train facility project will be removed. Line 11 and 12,

[2:25:40] the words and 5 million to the new construction fire training facility

[2:25:43] project will be removed. in lines 2021 the uh words and 5 million to the new

[2:25:51] construction fire training facility project will be removed and with that I

[2:25:55] offer that amendment >> Mr. Schultz offers and Mr. Jurassic

[2:25:59] seconds and any comments from the audience

[2:26:06] and >> Arthur Hend. So, uh, Councilman Schultz,

[2:26:11] you're only doing repairs. You're not building a new building nowhere.

[2:26:15] » Correct. So, these are three stations that are being repaired. And I talked to

[2:26:18] Mr. butcher that we have two ongoing repairs right now to the east bank and

[2:26:26] uh >> engineers

[2:26:28] » engineers roads thank you and these will be three additional ones and I'm like

[2:26:31] right now we need to focus on repairs instead of building a new building and

[2:26:35] uh he said okay um that's fine because and then we might approach this later in

[2:26:40] the year but right now we need to focus on the repairs and these were quotes

[2:26:44] that came from a engineer that were sent to us in March March. So, this was well

[2:26:50] in advance of any EMS fire discussion or anything like that. It just took time to

[2:26:55] get the the stuff together. But yes, this is three stations getting repairs

[2:26:59] » all in one year. >> Well, that we're going to start on them

[2:27:03] and everything, but probably go into 2027.

[2:27:05] » Okay.

[2:27:13] » 156 in Camelan. Uh is is one of these stations on east bank at the little fire

[2:27:19] station uh in Phoenix cuz it's >> No. No. These are

[2:27:26] » Bville Port Sulphur and Myrtle Grove

[2:27:31] » Myrtle Grove Moto Grove uh Bville and Portuler.

[2:27:34] » All right. We need some attention to one of five station in Phoenix. So I thought

[2:27:38] it was one of that one >> that we'll we'll look into that on the

[2:27:42] next round. But like I said, at this point with these three, that will be

[2:27:45] five stations getting repairs and that's enough on the plate for right now.

[2:27:49] » Thank you. >> I'll yield. Or if Yeah, I'll yield.

[2:27:59] » Good afternoon again. Uh Jonathan, the mic down below the mic down, please.

[2:28:05] » Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today regarding the

[2:28:08] request to transfer funds for the fire department's capital improvements. Uh

[2:28:12] first I want to make clear that I understand the concerns that have arisen

[2:28:15] with the training center. Uh after listening to the discussions and

[2:28:20] considering the other priorities facing the parish, I agree that we should

[2:28:23] remove the training center project from consideration at this time. It will

[2:28:28] allow us to focus more on the projects that we already have going in place and

[2:28:32] the three that we'd like to continue. Uh but we would like to revisit it towards

[2:28:36] the end of the year. Today, I'm here asking for your support in transferring

[2:28:42] the funds so that we can make the necessary repairs to our fire stations

[2:28:45] in a parish. Over the past several weeks, I've provided each of you with

[2:28:49] assessment reports detailing the conditions of several of our stations,

[2:28:52] including Bouville, Port Sulphur, and Myrtle Grove. These reports identify

[2:28:56] significant issues that have developed over time and require attention. The

[2:29:01] repairs we are proposing are not cosmetic improvements, nor are their

[2:29:05] temporary fixes. We're looking at long-term solutions. In the past, we've

[2:29:11] had to uh let's say band-aid things because we didn't have the money, and we

[2:29:15] don't want to do that no more. We want to fix them. We want to fix them, right?

[2:29:18] And we want it to be a long-term solution. Uh

[2:29:23] our firefighters operate from these stations 24 hours a day, 365 days a

[2:29:28] year. The requested funding will allow us to address structural concerns,

[2:29:32] building system deficiencies, and other critical infrastructure needs that have

[2:29:36] accumulated over time. By making the repairs now, we can prevent further

[2:29:40] deterioration and avoid more costly repairs in the future.

[2:29:45] This request is not about expanding services or constructing new buildings.

[2:29:49] It's about preserving and repairing the facilities we already have and ensuring

[2:29:53] they remain operational for years to come. I respectfully ask for your

[2:29:57] support of this transfer so that we can move forward with these muchneeded

[2:30:00] repairs. Investing in these stations is an investment in public safety, our

[2:30:05] firefighters, the residents of the parish. Thank you for your time, your

[2:30:09] consideration. If you have any questions, I uh I'll be happy to answer.

[2:30:13] » While you're there, I got one question and it's not about per se the

[2:30:16] firehouses. >> How many ladder trucks do we have from

[2:30:21] Jesuit bend down? >> Jesuit bend down. Right now we have uh

[2:30:25] one at Ports offer. We do have one in order or on order. We're expecting this

[2:30:30] summer to go and look at it. It's going to Ports. The one in Ports is going to

[2:30:34] Myrtle Grove. And then we do have one in Venice. Is I think we ought to go after

[2:30:39] FEMA since they making us go so high off the ground. They ought to buy us some

[2:30:44] ladder trucks. >> If you can help me out with that, I'd

[2:30:47] appreciate it. >> Yes, sir. Thank you.

[2:30:49] » Yeah, I definitely will. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Butcher, let

[2:30:52] me ask this question. I know uh you spoke about your train. What So we we

[2:30:57] just had a huge discussion about training with uh EMS. So what what is

[2:31:02] y'all what do y'all what do y'all train at? Now

[2:31:05] » right now we have uh LSU or FedE uh state fire marshals office. If you drove

[2:31:11] by campus today, you saw a trail in a parking lot. They just delivered that.

[2:31:15] We do do that. We do have in-house training, but we need the training tower

[2:31:20] and the facility. one, it helps the insurance and uh we can also use it for

[2:31:25] the PI the PI rating for the insurance, but it's real hands-on training. So, we

[2:31:30] can go in and build. One of the things we're looking at is this uh WHP

[2:31:34] building. It's a tower and it's three uh stories tall. We can burn in it. Um

[2:31:40] repelling. So, I mean, yeah, it's it's going to be topnotch. Right now, we have

[2:31:45] to either get with the base or go to Jeffson Parish,

[2:31:48] » but you're trying. Okay. then it doesn't really work out so well.

[2:31:52] » Thank you, >> Miss McCardy.

[2:31:55] » Hello, Mr. Butcher. >> Hello.

[2:31:57] » Since 23 when we first got in office, the building on Engineers Road, I

[2:32:03] understand when it rains, it the rain falls through the roof down to the

[2:32:07] bottom floor and people have felt that they could not stay in there. So, does

[2:32:13] it need just repairs or >> they they

[2:32:18] put I can't hear what you're saying. Tow it down.

[2:32:20] » It's a brand new building, right? >> Well, that's what I'm saying. I keep

[2:32:24] hearing repair. Repair. I'm thinking we we were building a new building.

[2:32:28] » That's not part of it. >> That's not part of this.

[2:32:30] » Okay. So, I was asking for clarification. That's why I was talking

[2:32:33] to him. >> We're building a brand new building in

[2:32:36] there. >> Huh?

[2:32:38] » It's all >> I know. I'm I'm I'm heated today. So,

[2:32:44] So, we are building a new building. I wanted to make sure. And it's not just

[2:32:48] repair on engineers road. >> Oh,

[2:32:50] » yeah. It's down to the metal and they are putting a new roof, new skin, new

[2:32:55] inside. >> Yeah, that's what I was asking. The

[2:32:57] foundation, the structure, >> the framing was good.

[2:33:01] » The framing is still there and that's the only thing there besides the

[2:33:04] concrete. >> Okay. Thank you. And when will it be

[2:33:07] complete? >> We're looking at the end of the year,

[2:33:09] possibly January. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate

[2:33:12] » You're welcome, Mr. Edwards. >> Yeah. Uh, where are we at on the what

[2:33:16] loanous? >> That one, uh, same thing. Possibly

[2:33:21] would, we'd probably say more than January, February. They just put some

[2:33:25] new doors in the other day. >> It seemed like that was some major

[2:33:28] repair. What's taking it so long? I mean because I I thought we were just

[2:33:33] contractors >> taking out some um some some walls there

[2:33:38] and the rest most of the work was on the top and I I just thought it was sort of

[2:33:42] some cosmetic kind of work from my perspective.

[2:33:44] » Yeah. I mean contractors they did have some uh rain delays. The river was high.

[2:33:49] Uh we did get the uh concrete done not too long ago. The garage doors were just

[2:33:55] installed I believe Tuesday. So

[2:33:58] » I saw some activity the other day for the first time in a while. The other

[2:34:02] thing is are we going to get a ladder truck on

[2:34:06] the east bank because we just had several incident where people had a

[2:34:10] problem getting a lady from 21 ft because we didn't have nothing with a

[2:34:14] ladder on it and um she end up real sick just because they couldn't get her down,

[2:34:20] you know. So that time that so so are we looking at having at least one ladder

[2:34:25] truck on East Bank of the River? >> Yes, sir. It's on the order and we're

[2:34:28] expecting it to be arriving in about 18 months.

[2:34:31] » How many months? >> About 18 months.

[2:34:34] » It usually takes 4 years. >> Thank you, sir.

[2:34:38] » You're welcome. Mr. Jurassic. >> Yes. Uh Mr. Butcher, you did mention

[2:34:44] Jefferson Parish and the Naval Air Base. Don't y'all have an agreement with them

[2:34:48] to be able to use those facilities anytime? Well, it's not that we can use

[2:34:52] them any time, but we do have agreements that we're allowed to train with them or

[2:34:56] use their facility, but it's not just can't go in at any time, you know,

[2:35:00] obviously, especially on a >> base. Well, I mean, you have to get,

[2:35:04] » but yeah, what we're looking for is something for us. Also, by having the

[2:35:09] drill tower, like I said, it'll help with the insurance rating. And by having

[2:35:12] our own facility, we can help train volunteers. the volunteers aren't

[2:35:16] necessarily able to go to Jeffson Parish when they're officing classes or go to

[2:35:20] the base after certain hours. So, this is more uh not only for us, but it's to

[2:35:24] help the community with getting some more volunteers training.

[2:35:28] » How often do y'all use those training facilities?

[2:35:32] » Well, right now we don't have them. So, uh we're just mainly using them when we

[2:35:36] do the rookie class. >> Okay. I mean, because I'm just trying to

[2:35:39] figure out, you're going to come back later on. I'm giving you some some

[2:35:43] questions that you're going to hear again because do we really need it if we

[2:35:46] have access to other ones? You know, right now that's that's a want, not a

[2:35:50] need. And I appreciate what you said earlier when you got to the mic. You you

[2:35:53] spot on. >> Okay. Thank you. This shows

[2:35:56] » so yeah, I was actually going to hit on the training tower before you asked, but

[2:36:00] like volunteers don't train. I I I went to Jefferson Parish one time when I was

[2:36:05] going through my ratings just to check that box and haven't been sent back

[2:36:09] since. But we have buildings and two stories and stuff like that that we

[2:36:14] don't train on a regular basis on because we can't I mean Jefferson Parish

[2:36:18] doesn't allow us to go a lot of times at night or anything like that. But so but

[2:36:24] right now with everything going on it wasn't the time to do it because we got

[2:36:28] I mean we got repairs that we have to do. So I was actually that was going to

[2:36:32] be my comment on that. Uh, but I guess you're right, Patty, that Engineers Road

[2:36:37] is leaking right now a lot.

[2:36:42] » I yield. >> Any other comments? Machines are open.

[2:36:52] » Eases

[2:37:01] 8 Z. Thank you.

[2:37:06] » Send approval of the minutes from the May 28th, 2026 regular meeting.

[2:37:11] » Mr. Newsome off. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Jur. Any questions from

[2:37:15] the audience? Administration council machines up

[2:37:20] » minutes. >> Machines are open.

[2:37:22] » Yeah, I thought

[2:37:30] » Dr. Yeah, I got the mosquito conf and passes 80. You could defer

[2:37:38] » B and C >> B and C.

[2:37:46] » E, finance included in the email of council meeting reports and updated

[2:37:50] expenditure and revenue report for all funds. Please review the reports and

[2:37:53] call finance with any questions. Council member um Kenovich.

[2:37:57] » And that's just a reminder. >> Uhhuh.

[2:38:00] Do I have a motion to adjourn? Motion by Mr. Jurich, second by Mr. Newsome.

[2:38:07] » Machines are open. >> Me, too.

[2:38:15] » Champagne.

[2:38:18] That passes seven with one no. led the record show it finished at 5:04

June 11, 2026 Council Meeting

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