[0:00] Council meeting
Wednesday June 106
[0:05] p.m. Notice to the public each person
must decide before enter
[0:11] the item they wish to comment on. If
they are not seated in the chamber when
[0:16] agenda item is heard they will be
notified by offic.
[0:23] Please all
[0:27] open the meeting call to all.
of
[0:35] the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for it stands one
[0:41] nation under God indivisible
and justice for all
[0:52] » here
[0:58] » here
[1:01] Approve of the minutes of the regular
meeting of May 13, 2026
[1:12] by
[1:16] public
[1:32] I'm sorry.
[1:39] » Yes.
[1:42] » Yes.
[1:50] » Presentation of recognition.
[1:55] for Russia
and
[2:00] Elia.
>> I see we have it on here. First off, how
[2:04] y'all doing today, council?
>> Good, Chief. How are you?
[2:06] » Um, everybody, um, they was just here.
Russian was running a little late. He
[2:13] was finish up a detail and they was also
being interviewed by somebody else
[2:17] pertaining to the same incident. So, I
had them all together and they to come
[2:21] back. So, can we just get back to it a
little later?
[2:26] » All right. Thank you.
[2:30] » Resolve the 2024 2025.
[2:40] » Pending the council's approval of
ordinance six later today.
[2:46] the audit findings that were found in
our 2024 2025 would be fully resolved.
[2:52] So this should be the last audit finding
report until we have to whatever
[2:58] findings that are resulted of the new
report.
[3:07] to the financial report.
[3:13] » The report was emailed to everyone
yesterday. I emailed it in two different
[3:17] formats. The one the detailed line by
line item and then a smaller summary
[3:23] page item. So they list the revenues
budget. the
[3:29] the
year-to-date budget is the items that
[3:33] were
approved in the pending amendment for
[3:37] the current year. Those are the numbers
that were represented in there. So, if
[3:40] y'all have any questions, let me know.
[3:46] » Thank you.
[3:56] 2022
[4:00] state agreed upon procedure.
>> Uh Mr. Tanny Booty could not make it
[4:06] this afternoon. So managing partner or
not managing but a partner with Erikson
[4:12] Krento who happens to be Mr. Tanny's
boss. Mr. Ken is here instead. Okay.
[4:20] So, I think uh Tanny sent y'all all the
engagement letters. Um so, you should
[4:25] have copies of them. Uh it's pretty much
same as last year. The no change in fee
[4:31] from last year and the agreed upon
procedures. Every other year we have to
[4:36] do a full scope. So, this year is a year
that we have to do a full scope of the
[4:39] uh AUP procedures. But, but that's
nothing y'all not used to.
[4:45] Any questions or
[5:06] Yes.
>> Yes.
[5:11] » Yes.
[5:25] Thank you.
[5:29] August 2026
[5:36] for the city of the fiscal year
beginning July 1st 2025 and ending June
[5:42] 3026
for the general water and gas
[5:48] semic
[5:51] complex debt service for
[6:00] this is the public hearing for the
ordinance that's the next agenda item.
[6:07] This public hearing since it is related
to a actual the budget overall budget
[6:12] has been published three times in the
advocate and has been posted downstairs
[6:16] on our bulletin board since the previous
council meeting on May 13th to give the
[6:21] public a com a chance to comment on the
current budget and the amendments to the
[6:27] current 2026 budget.
[6:55] August of 2026
operating budget of revenues expend the
[7:01] city of
July 1st, 2025 and ended June 30, 2026
[7:08] for the general water and gas fund, low
income housing fund, and municipal
[7:14] complex complex debt service fund.
[7:42] Louisiana
session
[7:46] operating
[7:51] system.
[8:12] Floors and official
[8:28] Therefore,
[8:38] today
[8:57] I don't know if we need the motion
before Mr. Joshua Smith will discuss the
[9:01] numbers. He is here. Yes,
[9:06] » Mr. Joshua Smith of Falcon Winkler.
[9:11] » Good evening, council.
So, what you all have in front of you is
[9:15] the pretty much the same handout that
was introduced on the May 13 meeting.
[9:20] Um, couple things as it relates to your
2026 budget that you're amending right
[9:26] now to be in compliance with the local
governmental budget act. There was a
[9:29] minor just a minor change in that one to
accommodate uh some additional PD
[9:34] equipments that are on a later agenda
item. It was roughly 30,000. So, I just
[9:39] wanted to point that to your attention.
Um, and the handout also summarizes just
[9:44] a few shifts that were made in the 2027
budget. If you would like me to discuss
[9:48] those, I believe that's the next agenda
item. Or if you would like to
[9:54] approve this one first and then I can
touch base on the 2027.
[10:30] Thank you.
[10:39] August
[10:45] for the city of Coral
July 1st
[10:50] and ended June 3027
water and gas
[10:59] service.
[11:02] to the
[11:06] » Again, this public hearing was
advertised in the advocate for three
[11:10] consecutive weeks. It's been posted
downstairs and also per the Louisiana
[11:15] Governmental Budget Act, it has been
available for public inspection at Miss
[11:19] Lynette's Lain's desk, the secretary to
the mayor since Thursday following the
[11:24] last meeting until this afternoon.
[11:40] Okay. So, as it relates to your 2027 U
budget, this is once again the same
[11:46] packet that was introduced on May 13th,
but what I did hand out this particular
[11:51] time was a summary overview. Um, I did
regroup with with the administration
[11:55] team and there was a shuffling in some
capital outlay assignments. Um, there
[12:00] was some built-in contingencies for the
sewer that was on the back end of the
[12:04] priority list that was roughly 240,000
that we reallocated amongst PD and
[12:09] drainage and streets. And so from a net
from a net impact standpoint, you can
[12:14] see on the summary that it actually
increased your your uh your budget by
[12:19] roughly 8,100. But from a grand scheme
of things, nothing else changed. It was
[12:24] just a rep prioritization of some
capital assets.
[12:47] for the city of fiscal year beginning
July 1st 26 and ending June 20 June 3027
[12:56] gaseneral
[13:23] by the city.
[13:32] expenses
[13:52] by
[14:04] city
dete.
[14:29] without
[14:47] all
expenses. only.
[14:57] Now therefore
[15:07] required by the last day.
[15:25] » Yes.
[15:29] Yes,
>> thank you.
[15:54] Okay. How y'all doing again? All right.
Um, one of the biggest things coming
[15:59] into office um and hiring these these
guys on that's standing behind me and um
[16:04] I explain to them to them my vision and
what it is I'm expecting from them on
[16:09] every call that they go out on. uh
conduct yourself in a professional
[16:13] manner, treat people how you like to be
treated or how you like your family
[16:16] members to be treated despite whatever
the circumstances is. Uh it was brought
[16:21] to my attention from Assistant Chief
Smith that while being out there um on C
[16:26] shift one day these guys uh went above
and beyond the call of duty while
[16:30] working on this car. So from there he
passed it on to me told me exactly what
[16:35] happened. Told him hey look let's go
ahead and put it on paper. He did. And
[16:40] so that's brought that brought us here
today. So I'm going pass it on to Re and
[16:43] he'll explain everything up for me.
[16:47] » Good evening, council. How you guys
doing?
[16:50] » How are you?
>> Awesome. Awesome.
[16:53] So um as you know still investigating
cases and still in the mix. Um but but
[16:59] in doing so I believe in patting on the
back and praising our officers when they
[17:04] when they do good. And in this case is
exactly what they did.
[17:08] And it is nothing that I did. It's all
what they did and they deserve it. Uh so
[17:13] with that being said, what I'll do is um
I'll just read um the certificate real
[17:17] quick and I'll present it to them
because they did an excellent job.
[17:22] So um and it's it's the same for all
three officers. So it's in recognition
[17:26] for exceptional performance,
professionalism professionalism, and
[17:30] sensitivity. Excuse that mess up. in
recognition of your exceptional
[17:33] performance, professionalism,
dedication, and sensitivity demonstrated
[17:37] during the investigation of a juvenile
sexual battery case on May 27, 2026.
[17:42] Your commitment to serving with
integrity, compassion, and respect while
[17:46] handling the highest sensitive
investigation exemplifies the highest
[17:48] level of standard in law enforcement.
Through your diligence and professional
[17:53] professionalism, you help ensure a
thorough investigation while maintaining
[17:57] a victim center approach and
safeguarding the dignity of those
[18:00] involved. Your outstanding service,
commitment to justice, and unrave
[18:04] dedication reflects great credit upon
yourself and the Port Island Police
[18:08] Department and deserving I'm sorry are
deserving of special recognition and
[18:12] appreciation given this 10 day of June
2026. And first up is it's going to be
[18:18] officer Delicia Batist. Thank you,
Officer Batist.
[18:24] We have Officer Kendrick Rogers. Thank
you.
[18:31] And we just got a busy house with
Corporal Russian and Juno, but they did
[18:35] an outstanding job. Thank you guys.
[19:13] That's right.
[19:36] This is where we stand.
[19:41] Come closer. Hurry up.
[19:54] Thank you.
[20:09] » Thank you for your service.
[20:17] August
[20:26] and collection
[20:29] extension contract administrative policy
provided customer and providing for
[20:36] related matters.
[20:55] Item nine
[20:59] according to section 863 of the code or
city relative to the building of utility
[21:06] rates and charges Authorizing
[21:10] utility contract
[21:16] for related matters.
[21:34] cont
[21:51] a section 863
863
[21:57] orders.
[22:05] Amended by the addition of the following
subsection with all existing provisions.
[22:18] The city hereby authorizes
[22:44] the use of utility
[22:49] of the current
[22:55] time requiring that all future utility
[23:03] bills
[23:13] authored.
[23:22] customer
[23:37] to all
[23:41] penalties. Disconnection procedures and
Connection
[24:07] motion
[24:10] by
second by council.
[24:22] Yes.
[24:32] » The previous agenda item authorized us
to actually have a policy.
[24:38] This agenda item is now the policy that
we will follow pending your approval.
[24:44] Again,
I want to reiterate that these are for
[24:48] current amounts, not past dues from
three months, four months, five months
[24:52] ago. It's for people that had a leak or
as in January when we had that huge gas
[25:00] that for those people that are on fixed
incomes is to address those needs.
[25:25] Yes.
[25:31] » Yes.
[25:41] waste water treatment facility.
>> Mr. Eric, if you want to speak on this
[25:47] or you want me to speak on this,
>> the appra appraisal.
[25:52] » This is Yeah. related to the purchase of
that land. This is for the appraisal.
[25:58] » Okay. Uh y'all uh we talked about this a
little bit and of course we've had
[26:02] several meetings on this. This is um the
first step in uh basically uh seeing if
[26:09] the uh land uh along LA1, the big skinny
tract of about 31 acres is um you know
[26:16] viable for uh y'all to purchase to use
for a wastewater treatment plant. Of
[26:22] course, it's 31 acres, so you're not
going to need but probably six or seven
[26:26] for the plant itself. Essentially,
what's will happen if the appraisal
[26:30] comes back um at the same value as uh
what they've listed it for, then you
[26:37] y'all will proceed to the next uh step,
which will be um doing some basically uh
[26:43] research where they make sure that you
know it's not a toxic waste dump and
[26:47] things like that to protect um y'all's
interests. Also look at things like
[26:51] wetlands and and things like that. It'll
be a kind of a long iterative procedure
[26:56] and then if all those things uh pass
then uh y'all will uh basically uh you
[27:03] know obviously make the decision to
purchase the land.
[27:07] So it's kind of like you'll get updates
how it's going, you know, but we're
[27:11] probably talking
three or four months before all that
[27:15] stuff is cleared.
[27:20] uh well checking for it. You know,
basically they'll have we'll have to
[27:24] hire different um specialty firms to
check uh the you know, there's a
[27:30] specialty firm that looks at wetlands.
There's a specialty firm that looks for
[27:33] if there's a remediation issues. You
know, obviously you're hiring a specialy
[27:39] firm to do the um uh appraisal. And uh
there's a few other things we'll have to
[27:45] check. There's some pipelines in that
area. We have to make sure what their
[27:48] requirements are as well. Thank you.
[27:57] As mentioned last week, this is one of
the steps as a government entity that we
[28:01] have to go through to purchase land. We
can't just accept what the realtor says
[28:08] is we've got to go through this one, the
appraisal. So, this is the council
[28:11] authorizing the appraisal for us to
begin, as Mr. Tony Kellson is that
[28:16] process of actually acquiring that land.
[28:38] Yes.
[28:47] to appraise environmental review and
suitability studies.
[28:55] So this is a to enter into a contingent
which means based upon if all the
[29:02] following things actually
occur pass that we can proceed with the
[29:08] actual purchase agreement.
The reason to enter into a contingent
[29:14] purchase agreement is that the
seller is what is going to hold it for
[29:20] us to go through all of the legal
ramific.
[29:28] So, it's like holding it for us to go
through all the things that if someone
[29:32] comes in during the interim while we're
doing the appraisal, the wetland studies
[29:37] and all that that they can't buy it from
or buy it while we're trying to go
[29:43] through all of our legal steps. We got
to go through.
[29:53] Number
[30:04] 13,
[30:08] July 6,6
[30:15] » July 4th is a holiday recognized by
ordinance. Our policies and procedures
[30:20] says that when a holiday falls on a
Saturday, we observe it on Friday. And
[30:24] since Friday is a half a day, it would
be Thursday. We're asking since the
[30:28] council has the authority to override
written policies and procedures, given
[30:34] notice to employees that the mayor has
asked some employees or done a straw
[30:39] poll with the employees and they would
prefer to have not everyone but the ones
[30:44] that she has talked with the majority
that they would prefer to have the
[30:46] Monday after the weekend off. So we
would be working if this passes our
[30:52] holiday for all city employees would be
the Monday and we would work our normal
[30:57] regular schedule full day Thursday and
Friday July 3rd as a half day.
[31:22] Item 14
introduction of 206-132
[31:33] allow advertising of open position on
the city official website and social
[31:38] media for seven consecutive days include
a
[31:42] publication in the official journal.
[32:02] » Social medi
[32:10] Our
[32:18] current current ordinances require us to
post job vacancies in the official
[32:24] journal. It is not a state law that we
post job vacancies in the official
[32:29] journal. There are other things that we
are required to post in the official
[32:33] journal. Employment vacancies is not one
of them because it's in our ordinance
[32:37] that we have to publish in currently in
our ordinance that we have to publish in
[32:41] our official journal. The mayor has
asking to change that to post vacancies
[32:48] on our Facebook page, website page for 7
days because the cost of publication in
[32:54] the official journal cost posting on our
Facebook page does not and social media
[33:00] seems to be a better engagement with the
authority. Again, this is just the
[33:04] introduction of the ordinance. We still
do need the vote to introduce the
[33:07] ordinance, but this ordinance would not
go into effect until because it is an
[33:12] orest until next month following a
public hearing prior to the vote on
[33:18] that.
[33:35] Yes.
[33:41] Consider approving an additional
$1,65
[33:46] to Trust Service LLC for extra work at
the police department beyond the
[33:51] original 1,900 painting agreement.
[33:56] » Um, I'd like to start off by saying uh I
had the pleasure of meeting a couple of
[34:01] the council who did take me up on my
offer to come see the building. um from
[34:07] that moment um what y'all thought it was
nice.
[34:12] » All right. Thank you. Thank you. So,
like I said before, it was something
[34:16] that was definitely needed. And um I do
also wanted to point out uh from and I
[34:22] also brought to y'all attention when
y'all came individually uh from last
[34:25] week to this week. Um I showed y'all the
quotes and from the amount that we paid,
[34:31] which was a total amount of um $4,460.68
68 cents. The next thing that was close
[34:36] to that was $15,000.
So, we was able to save all the way
[34:40] around the board with material along
with that company. They they did us a
[34:44] nice service. So, uh that's what I
wanted to emphasize on that part.
[35:04] » Yes.
[35:07] Item number 16, consider approving of
purchase of
[35:13] cameras and hardware with a threeear
software plan at the cost of $25,73040.
[35:22] » Um, I kind of base everything off of
last week. uh kind of gave y'all the the
[35:27] the inside and outside of those cameras
and the importance of why we need it,
[35:32] which is definitely um they come to to
become a secondary uh tool to assist our
[35:37] law enforcement agency. Um they they
help the community is is all about
[35:42] community safety. So, uh bringing this
in, it give us one step to solving
[35:47] crimes, locating people, uh deterring
crimes around our community. Uh it's a
[35:52] start.
[36:07] Yes.
[36:10] » Item 17. Consider approving the purchase
of three mobile radios and hardware for
[36:17] service communication at a cost of
$7,4574.
[36:25] Um
so since last week
[36:30] um Mr. Summers who come, y'all know he
do his um annual I mean his weekly uh
[36:35] articles, but he made a story about the
things that the police department
[36:39] needed. And based off of that, I was
contacted by uh Assistant Chief Tom over
[36:44] there in Bruy. And from there, he he had
he actually advised, hey, look, they had
[36:50] uh a total of six cameras. I mean, six
radios. They had three incar radios and
[36:56] three portable radios. And before going
to surplus them, he off he wanted to
[37:01] know if we wanted them, he'll donate
them to us. So So I did I said that. So
[37:07] from there um once I agreed that we
we'll take them, he said they was going
[37:12] to start the process with the council
and get back with me so we can get them.
[37:15] So just
>> correct.
[37:21] » Yes.
[37:29] Yeah, I'll just bring it back.
[37:40] » Item number 18, considering the purchase
of speed,000.
[37:48] Um, now with the speed limit signs, um,
like I explained last week, that's
[37:54] something that I was bringing on to the
next, uh, fiscal year for the budget.
[37:58] Uh, Mr. Josh and I had multiple
conversations about that. Uh, me and Mr.
[38:03] Dagel, we we try to meet up with one
another once a week and uh, get a lot of
[38:09] things sorted out, which I thank him for
that. Uh so with that being said, I
[38:13] think bringing these camera I mean these
are speed limit signs will help deter
[38:17] speeders and uh help reduce a lot of um
unnecessary movement on our streets.
[38:25] » Yeah, that is the four that I did um
explain from last year. Um you can they
[38:30] they collect data and based off of the
data uh collected we can start moving
[38:33] them from u other areas around the city
limits of Port Island based off of the
[38:38] complaints we get or multiple complaints
we get within our citizens.
[38:53] » Yes.
[38:56] » Yes.
[38:59] Yes.
>> Item number 19
[39:08] for the poor force management system for
the police department,
[39:16] $118,50
annually thereafter.
[39:22] Um, once again, when you guys stopped
by, I had the opportunity to show you
[39:26] guys the other quotes from the other
companies that we spoken with. And as
[39:30] you can see, uh, it is uh, $18,000
that'll be coming um, every year for the
[39:36] subscription on what they bring to the
table. However, um, based on everything
[39:41] else and they're the cheapest ones and
it's something that our department, we
[39:46] really need that u that that that RMS
system. um who's decided to come out. Um
[39:53] we need that that we need that system to
update our um our our system in the in
[39:58] the PD uh to reduce a lot of time being
spent in the office along with it. It it
[40:03] make a lot of things simpler for when
people need reports and communication
[40:07] and documentation for other agencies
around here.
[40:14] That's something. Uh oh.
>> Do want to echo what Chief Mitchell
[40:20] says. This is committing for not just
the fiscal year 27 budget, but the 28
[40:25] budget, the 29 budget, the 30 budget,
and the 31 budget for five years. And
[40:32] unfortunately, that's the way the world
is moving is towards subscriptionbased
[40:37] everything. But that's also how
everybody is getting into deficits is
[40:42] now we're entering into agreements. I
just want as Miss as Chief Mitchell
[40:45] said, we are committing now money for
future budgets that we don't even know
[40:51] what next year's resources are going to
or revenue is going to be.
[40:56] » But is is this worth achievement?
>> Yes, most definitely.
[41:05] » No, no, we passed that and we since then
uh we've been meeting with them. That's
[41:09] Lexapo. That's the policy and
procedures. We've been working with them
[41:12] and we meet uh regularly every week and
we go over all the policies.
[41:41] Thank y'all. I really appreciate it.
[41:55] » Yes. Uh thank you all for having me
again tonight. um from the last meeting
[42:01] last week. Uh this program just just to
recap is um mainly just to help your
[42:08] customers with high water bills due to
leaks. Um we started this in
[42:13] Chattanooga, Tennessee with utilities
there and cities there. And the main
[42:17] goal was just to make it where the city
wasn't losing any revenue or having any
[42:21] bad debt due to their customers
receiving a $500 water bill, $1,000
[42:25] water bill, $2,000 water bill, whatever
it may be. and you all having to put
[42:29] them on a payment plan and kind of chase
for that. And then if you do put them on
[42:33] a payment plan, you're doing it without
an interest. Um, which means you're
[42:37] waiting on that revenue to come in. What
we do is, uh, we do one adjustment every
[42:41] 12 months over two billing cycles. We
create a customer service team
[42:46] specifically for the city of Port Allen.
We create a local number for them to
[42:50] call in and file claims. Um, when they
call in, we send an email over to your
[42:55] utility staff to say, "This customers
filed a claim with us. Can they just pay
[42:59] their average water bill as we process
this?" There is no cost to the city of
[43:03] Port Allen, but it is a cost to your
customers. And on the um the information
[43:08] I gave to you all last week, it's
between a dollar and $230
[43:13] a month. You all decide on which
coverage you would want to offer them,
[43:18] and that's a flat for all of your
customers. We don't want one person to
[43:22] have a adjustment of $500 and then
another one having an adjustment for
[43:26] 2500. Um we want it to be across the
board the same. Um
[43:31] there is no administrative cost to this
program. Um some of our partners what
[43:36] they do since we work with you all to
get leak information is they add an
[43:41] admin fee. So if it's a $180 they'll add
20 cents or some will add a dollar. You
[43:47] all keep that revenue as an admin fee.
totally up to you all or you can put it
[43:52] on to the mayor or utility uh director,
whoever to determine how much that
[43:56] should be. Um, but the goal is just to
make it where if you have low income or
[44:01] customers that that have issues with
high water bills, which it seems that
[44:05] may have happened in January with the,
you know, code snap, we just want to
[44:09] make sure we have something there for
them that that's going to help um with
[44:13] with those high water bills. So, um,
>> what do I call a high water bill?
[44:18] anything is two times their average.
That's high. Um so if they get a leak,
[44:23] whether it's a cattle trough, whether
it's a leak from a toilet, main water
[44:27] line, they simply call us and say, "Hey,
my water bill is normally $25. It's 50
[44:34] um or it's 500. Does that answer your
question?"
[44:37] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[44:49] So that fee So that fee that the city's
going to charge that's going to be for
[44:53] every individual resident.
>> That's correct. That
[44:59] » the there's there's two different ways
that you can do it. Um and and the way
[45:03] that we set this up is based on what
cities and utilities advised us. And one
[45:07] is to make it a line item on the utility
bill. And what we do is we send a letter
[45:11] out 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days. We
send this letter out, we create it, send
[45:16] it over to the mayor for her to review
it. But we send that out to each one of
[45:20] your customers to say, "This program is
going to start in 30 days. It's going to
[45:24] start in 60 days. If you don't want it,
call this customer service number and
[45:28] tell them you don't want it." Or you can
come to your, you know, to the office
[45:31] and and let them know and they'll let us
know.
[45:33] » So, they have to call and say they don't
want it.
[45:36] » Yes. Yes, they do. They have to opt out.
And
[45:40] Yes. And the reason that we do that is
that if you do it the other way, all of
[45:46] the customers will opt in when they get
the high water bill. And with insurance,
[45:50] we can't go back.
>> When they don't opt out,
[45:57] » so if if they do not opt out and they
and and they see that that's on their
[46:01] bill, then we will work with the mayor
to make sure they get their money back.
[46:04] There's not one customer that will have
this program that if they've had it for
[46:09] two months, three months, four months,
five months, 10 months, and said, "I did
[46:13] not want this, and I've been charged for
it." We will make sure they get their
[46:16] money back. But what we don't want is
for them to need it, and they, oh, I
[46:21] didn't see this. I didn't know about it,
and now it's too late, and you're going
[46:25] to have to put them on a 10-month
payment plan. And that gets cumbersome
[46:29] for your utility office as well, cuz
they're going to go back and forth with
[46:32] those customers trying to help them. We
want to be a source for your utility
[46:36] staff. And with every partner that we
have here in Louisiana, Tennessee,
[46:41] Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas,
we have not had any complaints when it
[46:48] comes to that. Now, your customers may
be upset and they may call, but once
[46:52] they understand how this program works,
those customers call back and say, "I I
[46:56] want that program." I prefer that
[47:05] and I have been actually working on this
uh since the last time he presented it.
[47:11] And so Rissa deals a lot with the
utility bills. And so uh coming from the
[47:16] insurance world, uh just know that a lot
of times even with subscriptions that
[47:20] people have, you have to opt out of it
if the trial is over at seven days. a
[47:25] lot of us forget that we had it in the
first place and you've paid for it for
[47:28] five months without realizing that
you've done that. Uh and we talked with
[47:32] mayor as well before she left that we
would like to be able to poll the
[47:35] citizens to see a yay or a nay as to who
would be interested in it, who would not
[47:40] be interested in it. So we're asking
that we table this for now until we get
[47:45] some more information.
[47:50] Yeah.
[47:55] » Yeah. And I'm I'm not against it at all.
I do think it would be beneficial for
[47:59] our customers, but I rather them know
what they're getting into before we just
[48:05] » Yeah. And then I have a lot of calls
coming to me.
[48:07] » A lot a lot of calls.
>> Yeah. But I do think it would be
[48:10] beneficial, but I think we should just
table it for now.
[48:13] » Agree. I think
>> not a Yeah. I think we should give them
[48:16] the opportunity to say yay or
Yeah, and with that with that, if you
[48:23] want to send a letter out, we can craft
that for you to make sure it's it's what
[48:26] they need and then you all can send that
out and let them know ahead of time
[48:30] whatever it may be. But we can work with
you all to do that.
[48:33] » Yeah. Yeah. To make sure they get that.
>> I concur. My recommendation is to table
[48:40] for us to do further research. But I do
have one question since this notice
[48:44] seems to be mailed out. The US Postal
Service has been anything but reliable.
[48:50] And I'm sure that Arisa can iterate that
the number of customers that we get that
[48:57] I did not get my utility bill
all the time that we currently do not
[49:04] have the infrastructure for people to
have an online account to see their bill
[49:10] or email their bill. So the only way
they truly are getting the bill is
[49:16] through the mail and if they don't if
the US postal service is unreliable they
[49:19] are not getting that bill. So my concern
right now is how would
[49:24] the customers get notice since it as Mr.
Payne pointed out, it is an opt out, not
[49:30] an opt in.
[49:34] » As I was saying, I think we need to have
a
[49:40] send it through,
but y'all say that they say that they
[49:45] don't get their mail. So, I don't know.
>> And that's the that's the other thing.
[49:49] If they don't get the mail, then they
still don't know. If they're not getting
[49:52] a water bill, they don't know until they
have
[49:55] » and that will work. Yes,
>> right.
[50:00] » I will I will get with I'll get with you
all to put that together if that works.
[50:03] Okay.
[50:08] » Right. Next time.
>> Yeah.
[50:16] Yeah.
[50:30] I'll make that motion and I'll second.
[50:46] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[50:49] » Number 21.
the mayor's
[50:53] application
$239,516
[51:00] to Men
and other
[51:08] forgot they don't need it.
Yes, obviously this is the one that we
[51:13] approved the substantial completion and
uh I was remiss in that I didn't realize
[51:19] that the uh pay application did not make
the prior council meeting and so we're
[51:25] basically catching up on uh they only
put in one pay for the whole job. So,
[51:30] all that's left will be the retainage of
12,000.
[51:35] And of course, since we gave them
substantial, the one-year warranty
[51:38] period will start and if we have any
problems, they'll fix it under that.
[51:45] So, obviously, I recommend and I hope
y'all agree.
[51:51] » I won't I won't I won't do it again. I
swear.
[51:54] » I have a question. Where are we on the
four pumps? Not to change the subject,
[51:57] but where we
>> You know what? I have uh I have to check
[52:01] the days and talk with the vendor. I was
I was going to do that today and I just
[52:05] literally forgot. There's very shortly
we should have the the shortterm one,
[52:10] the one we were going to get quicker.
>> I just know that's been about three
[52:15] months ago that we talked about those so
bad.
[52:18] » It's going to be close. I will uh what
I'll do is I'll find out and I'll let
[52:22] the mayor know and she can let y'all
know.
[52:25] » Thank y'all.
Councilwoman
[52:52] » item number
August 826.
[52:57] August 227
[53:05] facility.
[53:26] wastewater treatment facility
[53:39] providing
[53:48] We said we want to purchase the land. We
just approved that fiscal year budget
[53:53] for 27. It did not have the allocation
money in that budget for that land
[53:58] because that would be a substantial
change to the budget that was
[54:02] introduced. So to allocate funds to
actually purchase a land, we've got to
[54:07] go through the budget amendment process.
So this is our first budget amendment to
[54:12] the budget we just adopted at for the
fiscal year 27.
[54:18] 2 million a little bit over 2 million
would come from
[54:23] cash investments for what was our ARPA
funds that we had set aside in case we
[54:28] had to pay back the ARPA that we didn't
follow it pending the closing of the
[54:32] ARPA funds. We've closed out the ARPA
funds. the ARPA fund got the clearance
[54:37] letter from the treasury department in
March that we've cleared. So those funds
[54:42] now we can use for something else. So
the mayor has requested that that 2
[54:49] million that we have in investment be
used to purchase the land as opposed to
[54:53] going into debt.
However, when we use our investments and
[54:59] assets, you're taking money from like
rainy day funds in case an emergency
[55:03] comes. So again, council approves the
allocation. This is this is the
[55:07] introduction of the ordinance to allow
us to spend up to 3 million. I didn't
[55:11] have a number. I chose three because I
don't know how much the safe
[55:14] suitability, the environmental review
that all of those things
[55:19] to whatever those costs are would come
from within this as part of purchasing
[55:24] that land. Again, introduction and we
will vote have the public hearing and
[55:28] then actually vote next week. But we
still need a vote to actually introduce
[55:31] this
[55:49] Yes.
[55:59] 85284
the road and street department.
[56:06] » The 26 budget, the current budget has
money allocated for $25,000 in capital
[56:12] outlay for roads and drainage that was
listed as equipment. This is
[56:16] clarification that the equipment that
they want to get is these two zeroturn
[56:22] mowers.
Um, they told me they needed lawnmowers.
[56:26] I said, "I need more information than
that." So, they came back with one
[56:29] quote, the Bobcat quote.
Um, I noticed, uh, while it's not
[56:34] required per bid law, based upon
conversation last week that you had with
[56:39] Chief Mitchell that y'all wanted
additional quotes. I requested go back
[56:42] and get additional quotes. So they gave
me the quote also on a scagg tiger cat
[56:50] and some and one from city trailer
sales.
[56:54] We are not comparing apples to apples.
We might as you can see you've got what
[56:58] the quotes are. The Louisiana bid law
since it's underneath $30,000 doesn't
[57:03] require us to go. It is best practices
to get quotes. He did that. Um, a
[57:09] question I had was the Bobcat is
approximately $400 more than city
[57:15] trailer sales. If we're going that way,
what makes the Bobcat better or more
[57:24] whatever? The warranty is a little bit
more uh a little bit longer on the
[57:29] Bobcat and
the trailer for the zeroturn mowers from
[57:35] City Trailer or X Mark brand EX M A R K
and as a person that doesn't operate
[57:43] that I that tells me nothing as I'm sure
it tells you. I need more information or
[57:48] whatever. And I'm told that the Bobcat
one has a thicker cutting deck that
[57:55] houses the blades. So it less likely to
or greater durability. The transmission
[58:04] is more a commercial transmission on the
Bobcat being commercial a better
[58:09] commercial. The likelihood that it will
last longer. Um question also why do we
[58:17] need this? Um they currently have five
mowers that are four or five years
[58:24] and they don't make things. So in case
they break down, we're not coming
[58:28] through an emergency to get things. They
are a lot of wear and tear because in
[58:33] the course of right now they're using
them
[58:37] during the entire shift and they're not
taking breaks. So this is to add to the
[58:42] in fleet of inventory. so that we're not
using the same piece of equipment all
[58:47] day and not repairing. They said that we
are repairing the current ones that we
[58:52] have that hopefully we're not spending
as much money on repairing when we get
[58:56] new ones. So,
>> okay.
[59:17] I am not in the retail business.
Uh I will say that one of the things I
[59:24] noticed on the Bobcat
is that it has a Sourcewell
[59:30] contract number.
Did not know what Sourcewell contract
[59:33] number was, so I looked it up.
Sourcewell contract is a multi-state
[59:39] agreement that is similar to the
Louisiana state contract. It is not
[59:44] Louisiana state contract.
Um because this is under 30,000 we don't
[59:49] need a state contract. So as a source
well document, Bobcat or the dealer that
[59:55] is selling this Bobcat is very easily
since this has already been bidded out
[1:00:01] by other states put together an entire
document and can give it to us. for a
[1:00:08] retailer, I'm guessing, to put in the
time, energy, and effort to produce
[1:00:12] something similar to Bobcat and then we
turn around and not buy it is, in my
[1:00:18] opinion, not fair to that retailer that
we're going to ask you to put X amount
[1:00:23] of put to put together a similar quote.
I don't know. I'm not in retail. That
[1:00:26] would be my logical educated guess.
[1:00:38] I was told that the the deck is thinner,
the transmission is not as commercially
[1:00:47] whatever and that also the deck wheels
on the Xark tractors are exposed whereas
[1:00:56] on the Bobcat they are not.
[1:01:01] the streets and drainage supervisor. I
called him today to get further
[1:01:05] clarification. Again, I am not in this
category or this to I am not a expert in
[1:01:12] I don't even cut my own grass. That's
why I hire someone else. So, I don't
[1:01:16] know the first thing about cutting
grass. The and
[1:01:21] in the budget that you did approve for
27, we've got some rotary cutters. I
[1:01:27] don't know what that is. The the
[1:01:35] Yeah,
that proved because it is in their
[1:01:40] opinion and I've got to realize there
that it is
[1:01:45] better quality. I I don't want to say
better quality. Like I said, we're not
[1:01:49] comparing apples to apples here.
>> Yeah.
[1:01:58] » What they have now
Bob
[1:02:02] » right now they got all X marks. Right.
That's what I see.
[1:02:04] » That's what I'm told that they got all X
marks. Again, I wouldn't know the
[1:02:08] difference between an X mark and a
Bobcat unless I saw Xmart or Bobcat on
[1:02:12] the
>> commercial.
[1:02:26] That's the difference between
[1:02:35] They're easier the maintenance on the X
marks. Those are the ones that's
[1:02:39] constantly being with new parts and
having to replace it where opposed to
[1:02:44] the
bu
[1:03:00] I mean that he should be here talking
his case what he need
[1:03:07] » we don't we don't know we don't know
what's going on so we should have had
[1:03:12] somebody here explaining this to us
>> probably that would have fell on
[1:03:17] » get up come on
[1:03:22] » my perspective is that these guys have
been holding off on purchasing
[1:03:29] lawnmowers. Um I consistently see the
issue of us pushing the things back that
[1:03:35] we need um to get resolved. I don't
think this is a bad price at all for the
[1:03:40] lawnmowers. I think they need it. I
think um
[1:03:45] what's
no fleet maint
[1:03:52] lawnmowers. We're spending a lot of
money. These lawnmowers that we have now
[1:03:57] are actually shooting out things to on
on our citizens and they're trying to
[1:04:02] make claims on our insurance or with us
to pay. So, we're actually spending more
[1:04:07] money having these old lawnmowers old.
>> So, is that because the mowers aren't
[1:04:12] any good or they just not uh
>> It's various different reasons. Yeah,
[1:04:16] because it's it's made for it's made for
um residential not commercial
[1:04:24] » at the back
>> instead of the side
[1:04:27] and the only reason why I know is
because of a lot of the breaking of the
[1:04:31] windows and the came
[1:04:38] from all these
broken windows.
[1:04:43] » So did y'all check the
about if they cared about or whatever it
[1:04:49] just
>> um Mike I think Mike
[1:04:56] » Yeah,
[1:04:59] » we just paid $2,000 for a repair on a
vehicle that a rock hit a window.
[1:05:05] » That's just that's just one vehicle. I
don't even want to speak about the other
[1:05:09] issues that I had to deny coverage, but
I knew we could
[1:05:24] Yeah, I I understand your reason of
being fiscally responsible.
[1:05:32] » Yeah. Yeah. Any it can happen any any
way. as they will.
[1:05:36] » But I uh Councilwoman um Gordon, I do
suggest that we do pay a little bit more
[1:05:43] for something that's commercial and try
I know we trying to be fiscally
[1:05:47] responsible, but that little difference
>> is worth it because how the lawn mower
[1:05:52] is made. And I I I do have faith in the
guys who are bringing this up that
[1:05:58] they're not just finding the first thing
they they see. I do suggest that we do
[1:06:03] act on it in that way. believe in
quality and not quantity.
[1:06:06] » Yeah.
[1:06:18] » Yeah. I haven't I haven't seen the
lawnmowers like like Adrian. I don't
[1:06:22] know exactly, but I know they're
constantly showing us and bringing it,
[1:06:26] but I do respect that their knowledge of
of this. But I don't think if we're
[1:06:31] making a move, a fiscal move, I think
we'll be losing more money going on a
[1:06:37] cheaper route.
>> Right.
[1:06:39] » It might seem crazy, but I mean
longevity. I think we we we a lot of
[1:06:43] times we push things back and then we
now we faced with this problem. We need
[1:06:47] new
>> lawnmowers.
[1:06:54] Mhm.
[1:07:10] » Oh, yeah.
[1:07:22] years.
>> Sounds like that's Yeah,
[1:07:38] » approve
[1:07:41] of the two
[1:07:51] motion by council.
[1:07:56] » Which one2
[1:08:09] second by council Gregory
Can I get a roll call, please?
[1:08:15] » Yes.
[1:08:28] » One thing we have is June
18th at 6:00 at West
[1:08:36] Community Center and Junth day, June
20th.
[1:08:41] Park and senior citizen.
[1:09:11] We have a
[1:09:16] any
comments from the council
[1:09:20] announcement from the council.
[1:09:46] You did good.
[1:10:01] That's a good thing.
[1:10:12] See,
[1:10:39] I was going to try
[1:11:35] I'll put that together.
[1:11:39] Thank you for coming.
[1:12:17] Let me turn the light.
[1:12:48] I got to go to church.
[1:12:53] Y'all kept calling y'all sister.
[1:13:14] » My halo
[1:13:18] halo. My was glowing.
[1:13:50] I told Michelle