BOGALUSA CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
MINUTES
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015, 5:30 P.M.
POSTED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015, 12:00 NOON
PRESIDING: WENDY O’QUIN PERRETTE, MAYOR
STACY SMITH, DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION
DALE BRANCH, CITY ATTORNEY
PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY
PRESIDENT DRUMMOND
COUNCILWOMAN KATES
COUNCILWOMAN SMITH
COUNCILMAN McCREE
VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE
ABSENT: COUNCILMAN RITCHIE
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Bogalusa City Council Meeting will come to order. Invocation by Councilwoman Smith, followed by the Pledge.
BY COUNCILWOMAN SMITH: Led the Invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Roll call.
COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY……….HERE
PRESIDENT DRUMMOND……………………HERE
COUNCILMAN RITCHIE……………………….ABSENT
COUNCILWOMAN KATES……………………HERE
COUNCILWOMAN SMITH……………………HERE
COUNCILMAN McCREE……………………….HERE
VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE………………………HERE
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Next we have approval of the Minutes for the last regular scheduled meeting held on November 3, 2015.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: I make a motion that we accept the minutes.
BY COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY: Second.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Roll call.
COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY………..AYE
PRESIDENT DRUMMOND…………………….AYE
COUNCILMAN RITCHIE………………………..ABSENT
COUNCILWOMAN KATES…………………….AYE
COUNCILWOMAN SMITH…………………….AYE
COUNCILLMAN McCREE………………………AYE
VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE………………………AYE
(MOTION CARRIED 6-0 WITH ONE ABSENT TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 3, 2015).
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Before we keep going I’m going to make a couple of small announcements. We just ask that you honor the three minute rule when you get up to speak and that goes across the board for everyone and secondly after we take a vote I’m going to have to leave but I didn’t want to miss out on a vote and have it come back to haunt me later. At that point I will turn it over to Vice-President White. Moving on we will go to adoption of Resolutions, Councilwoman Fortenberry.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: We have a recognition award.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Okay, sorry about that we do have a recognition.
BY MAYOR PERRETTE: This is Northshore Technical Community College. It is a public Institution operating under the Louisiana Community and Technical College System Board of Supervisors. NTCC provides higher education and adult education work force development and economic development opportunities and continues to serve a diverse and steadily increasing student population each year. NTCC faculty professional support staff and administrators begin celebrating the college’s 85th anniversary during the week of November 16-20, 2015.
NOW, THEREFORE, I Wendy O’Quin Perrette, Mayor of the City of Bogalusa, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, November 18, 2015, as:
“Northshore Technical Community College-
85th Anniversary Day
In the City of Bogalusa, and urge all citizens to join me in recognizing the tremendous influence Northshore Technical Community College has had on the City since opening the Sullivan Campus. Through its easy access to the citizens of Bogalusa, it has provided for each of us an opportunity to enjoy continuing education and training thus improving our quality of life.
This is for Northshore Representative is here. This is proclaiming Northshore Technical College Day in honor of recognition of the 85th anniversary.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Alright now we get back to the Adoption of Resolution, Councilwoman Fortenberry.
BY COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY:
A RESOLUTION adopting the Washington Parish Hazard Mitigation Plan 2015.
If you don’t know what that is I didn’t know either, I looked it up. It is just something that has to be done yearly in case we have a disaster we can get FEMA money. It says that the Hazard Mitigation Planning describes the benefit of Risk Assessment and Planning providing an overview of FEMA’s Mitigation Plans requirements conditions for receiving this certain types of disaster assistance. That is all that is.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: First we have to ask anybody in the public wish to comment? Council discussion. It is just adopting the Parish’s rules where if something were to happen we could get reimbursed by FEMA for any overtime money spent. It would be like reimbursement funds if it was a disaster in an event of a natural disaster during a state of emergency was declared. No council discussion.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: I make a motion that we accept this resolution.
BY COUNCILWOMAN KATES: Seconded.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Roll call.
COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY…………………AYE
PRESIDENT DRUMMOND……………………………..AYE
COUNCILMAN RITCHIE…………………………………ABSENT
COUNCILWOMAN KATES……………………………..AYE
COUNCILWOMAN SMITH…………………………….AYE
COUNCILMAN McCREE………………………………..AYE
VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE………………………………..AYE
(MOTION CARRIED 6-0 WITH ONE ABSENT ADOPTING THE WASHINGTON PARISH HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2015).
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Next is Introduction Ordinances, Vice-President White.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE:
AN ORDINANCE to amend the 2015 Budget.
Basically the budget for 2015 is been revised to reflect the numbers as they are projected over next month. So it has been revised to do that to have closer numbers to what we are actually doing.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: This will be up for a vote in two weeks. Next do you want to do this one for Councilman Ritchie?
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE:
Since Councilman Ritchie is not here tonight I will introduce another ordinance.
AN ORDINANCE authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with the successful bidder of the RFP for the Brownsfield Assessment Grant.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Like the first one it will also be up for a discussion in two weeks. Now we move to Public Hearing and Adoption of Ordinances.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE:
This also was to be introduced by Councilman Ritchie tonight.
AN ORDINANCE with the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement between the Washington Parish Communications District and the City of Bogalusa.
This is in regards to the 9-1-1 center that is located in the center of the parish that we would be receiving our 9-1-1 call dispatching from there.
BY PRESIDENT DRUMMOND: Anyone from the public wish to comment? Please state your name and address.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: 427 Orleans Street. I am also the President of the Local 89 that represents our Police Officers and Dispatchers. If this ordinance is passed tonight you will be forcing the city to hire two dispatchers, three dispatch supervisors and four officer’s to supervise effective by the first civil service law at a cost of two dispatchers at $54,000 a year just salary. That is not their benefit that is not the thirteen percent the city is going to have to contribute to their retirement. Three dispatch supervisors would cost the city $85,500. The four supervisors that supervise those would cost the city $121,800 each. Like I said this is not a benefit and that is $260,500 just off the start to hire people. We are looking at having update equipment. They want to take our dispatchers out and put in a phone. So when the citizens walk up you don’t talk to nobody it’s a phone to talk to people and then from there you get a dispatch or somebody will show up. We are looking at start up $300,000 it is going to cost the city. Then at least $260,000 annual salaries plus the thirteen percent. There is no benefit for the city. They are saying this will help the Fire Department. The dispatchers cannot answer for the Sheriff Department. They cannot answer for the Fire Department working outside their classification. Mr. McCree knows from the last Mayor they tried to have the firemen pick up trash. That was outside the classification of civil service. If it goes through the city will have to do this bill. It is not worth it to move them not to mention the firemen and police officers. If one of ya’ll come to the headquarters and somebody is chasing you, ya’ll are looking at an empty building. There is nobody to let you in. You are a sitting duck with no way out. One door in that lobby and one door going out. I ask that ya’ll don’t vote on this tonight. Ya’ll postpone it. I’m not asking you to kill it, I’m not asking you to stop, I’m asking the city to get together and present to the Council the true figure and it is going to cost the City of Bogalusa, this is not just three dispatchers going out there. Everybody else has got to be hired and employed. There is a lot of stuff that is not been discussed that needs to be brought to light, equipment is not up to date. We are looking at $5,000 to get a new server, we are looking at money to upgrading the server, upgrade our equipment and everything. It is just not feasible and I’m asking ya’ll to at least protocol on this and ya’ll can find out the truth and the true figures from the city. This is made on the 9-1-1 board. The Mayor has a meeting and everybody knows it, we have talked with Bob Lawrence the State Examiner and I ask ya’ll to go to ose.la.gov and ya’ll can read everything ya’ll need to read on civil service on the state examiner and Mr. Bob Neilson, not Bob Nielson, Mr. Bob Lawrence the phone number is on there. Call him, talk to him about what it is going to acquire us to move them out there. We still got to band when they call in sick. They have 365 days sick leave a year per income that you got to put somebody out there. If they are sick somebody from Bogalusa has to drive all the way out there before somebody can just relieve them. You are sticking these women out in the middle of the parish with no safety.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: Have you been to that building?
BY JAMES COCKRELL: I have.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: Yes that is probably the safest building in the whole parish. I’ve been there.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: I have too.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: You can’t even penetrate that building.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: But how do you get home?
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: It is fifteen minutes down the road.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: How do you get home? You walk out in the dark parking lot to get in your car, there is no safety.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: I lived out in the country so I don’t think much about that one.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: You don’t but you are not dealing with the public these are. You are not making people mad when you tell them the police is coming. I ask ya’ll to don’t squash it at least postpone it until ya’ll can find out the true figures and the truth about this. Thank you.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: Okay thank you.
BY COUNCILWOMAN KATES: Actually I did have one additional question sir. This is a partnership with Washington Parish. What will be their partnering in this project? What are they offering? Do you know what they are offering?
BY JAMES COCKRELL: I can’t for the life of me I can’t figure out what anybody is going to benefit from it. They are saying we are going to have the greatest equipment, they provide our equipment. We had a computer go down for six months, three months, we had a computer go down for three months we had to wait so the citizens had only one 9-1-1-computer in our office so they just sat on hold. Nobody would go in there and help us. 9-1-1 board had 11 computers out there. All they had to do is pick one up and bring it here and plug it in but they refused because they want this done. I don’t know the reason behind it or who wants it but I cannot and I ask anybody to tell me the city’s benefit for this. Where is the citizens of Bogalusa benefit? Because nobody can explain it. They’re saying we are going to get a grant and get five computers for the city. Bossier City told us we can have every computer we want. Staff the entire city with computers. Chief will tell you all we had to do is drive up there and pick them up. We never had an IP guy to be able to work on them so we didn’t. Is there anything?
BY COUNCILWOMAN KATES: Thank you.
BY COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY: I have a question for you. I have went out to that building and I am very impressed with it. The Police Department over here if someone drives up out front do you see them when they drive up and get out of their automobile or do you see them when they get to the front door?
BY JAMES COCKRELL: When they get to the front door.
BY COUNCILWOMAN FORTENBERRY: Why are the camera’s not working over here?
BY JAMES COCKRELL: The last time it was working the power got struck by lightning and it hasn’t been fixed.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: Okay. How many actual occurrences do you have people run into your station for a 9-1-1? I would like to know.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: I don’t have any figures.
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: Because I wouldn’t run to your station I would call 9-1-1.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: If you, we had an incident here a while back---
BY VICE-PRESIDENT WHITE: I would like to know the facts.
BY JAMES COCKRELL: A man and wife was chasing each other and they chased everybody up and tried to pull in the front door but the curve stopped them and they all jumped out and ran in because her estranged husband was chasing her. We get calls all the time of my ex-husband is chasing me or I’m just saying that or boyfriend is chasing me and we tell them to come to the Police Station the dispatcher is going to be there. She can let them in secure to the building. What are you going to tell them now drive fifteen miles out there or ten miles I think it is exactly ten miles. Why is the city having to pay to man that station? Why does my tax dollar foot the bill for them? I pay city taxes I want my city taxes in my city not something else. It is not going to benefit the Police Department, it can’t benefit the Fire Department. The Fire Chief is going to make you believe that it is but it is not. They cannot answer the Fire Department calls. It is not in their civil service contract.