* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. SECONDS. AND I'M [00:00:01] GOING. HELLO EVERYBODY. WELCOME TO THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH. GOOD TO HAVE ALL OF YOU LIVE HERE WITH US TODAY AND HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU HAD A FUN-FILLED MARDI GRAS. AND TODAY'S ASH WEDNESDAY, AND IT'S THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE HAVING A COUNCIL MEETING TODAY. AND WE'RE GLAD THAT YOU'RE BEING A PART OF OUR MEETING. WE ARE LIVE ON METRO 21 ON, UH, COX, AND THEN WE'RE ON 99 ON, UH, UVERSE. ON AT AND T. WE'RE STREAMING LIVE ON OUR WEBSITE, AND WE ARE ALSO LIVE ON FACEBOOK LIVE. WELCOME EVERYBODY, AND AT THIS TIME HERE IS THE MAYOR, PRESIDENT PRO TEM OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH. MY PLEASURE [CALL TO ORDER] TO BRING YOU COUNCIL MI LAMA COLE COUNCILMAN. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, DENNIS. AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER. ASHLEY, DO WE HAVE A QUORUM? WE HAVE A QUORUM. AT THIS TIME, WE'RE GONNA PASS TO COUNCIL MEMBER SHAWN BANKS TO INTRODUCE THE INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL LEAD US IN THE INVOCATION AND THE PLEASURE OF ALLEGIANCE. COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. YES. UM, FOR THE INVOCATION, WE HAVE REVEREND GILL WRIGHT, PASTOR OF, UM, NEW LIGHT. NEW LIGHT, MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH OF SCOTLANDVILLE. AMEN. THANK YOU. COUNCIL WOMAN BANKS FOR THE INVITATION. CHRIST'S FATHERS, WE COMING FOR YOU TODAY? LORD, WE ASKING THAT YOU WOULD COME AND BE A PART OF THIS MEETING AND THEN, LORD, WE ASKING THAT YOU WOULD USE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THEN LORD, GIVE THEM THE WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, AND REVELATION AS THEY DO THE BUSINESS FOR THE CITY. LORD, WE ASKING THAT YOU BLESS MAYOR BROOM, BLESS ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND BLESS ALL THOSE WHO ARE HERE. WE ARE ASKING THAT YOU BLESS OUR NATION. WE'RE ASKING THAT YOU BLESS OUR STATE, OUR CITIES, AND OUR TOWNS. AND THEN LORD, WE ARE ASKING THAT THE PETITION THAT HAS BEEN MADE BE GRANTED AND THAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL DO BUSINESS ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL. AND WE THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. AMEN. AMEN. AMEN. SARAH PLEDGE, I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND REPUBLIC FOR WHICH WE STAND ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE RAW. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, REVEREND. THANK YOU VERY MUCH SARAH. WE NOW GO TO ITEM ONE, [ADOPTION AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES] APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 8TH, 2023 AND THE SPECIAL METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 15TH, 2023, THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL ZONING MEETING OF FEBRUARY 15TH, 2023 IN THE GREATER BATON ROUGE AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 7TH, 2023 BY THE COUNCIL ADMINISTRATIVE TREASURER. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER AMAROSA, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOK. ITEM ONE HAS BEEN APPROVED. ASHLEY, WOULD YOU PLEASE [INTRODUCTIONS] READ THE INTRODUCTIONS? SECTION 2.12. INTRODUCTIONS NUMBER TWO, AMENDING THE 2023 CURRENT EXPENSE BUDGET. SO IT'S APPROPRIATE $17,500 FOR A VETERANS BUS RIDERSHIP PASS PROGRAM FROM GENERAL FUND FUND BALANCE UNASSIGNED BY COUNCILMAN HURST AND THE MAYOR PRESIDENT. NUMBER THREE, AMENDING ORDINANCE 1 8 7 33 TO ADD DEFINITIONS AND PROVISIONS FOR VETERAN OWNED BUSINESSES, SPECIFICALLY TO PROVIDE AN EXEMPTION OR REDUCED TAX BY COUNCILMAN DARYL HURST. COUNCILMAN AARON MO COUNCILWOMAN DENISE MARISO AND COUNCILWOMAN JENNIFER ROCKA. NUMBER FOUR, AMENDING ORDINANCE 94 90 AS AMENDED BY PARISH ORDINANCE 5 1 23 AND CITY ORDINANCE 38 43 AS AMENDED BY PARISH ORDINANCE 5 9 26 AND CITY ORDINANCE 46 92 CITY PARISH ORDINANCE 76 86 CITY PARISH ORDINANCE 1 12 2 78 AND CITY PARISH ORDINANCE 13 4 78 CITY PARISH ORDINANCE 1 7 1 94. PARTICULARLY THE LIST OF EXCEPTIONS TO THE REQUIRED PARKING FEE TO ADD A DISCOUNTED BREAK FOR VETERANS AND OF THE ARMED FORCES BY COUNCILMAN DARYL HARRIS. COUNCILMAN AARON MO, COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN, DENISE MARISO AND COUNCILWOMAN JENNIFER ROCKA. NUMBER FIVE, AMENDING THE 2023 ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE 19TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, FAMILY COURT AND JUVENILE COURT. SO AS TO APPROPRIATE $560,000 TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR NEEDED COURT REPORTING AND OTHER PERSONAL NE PERSONNEL NEEDS BY THE MAYOR. PRESIDENT CONDEMNATION INTRODUCTIONS NUMBER SIX, JOSEPH MONTERO, 1 8 5 18 19 8 55 DEER CREEK DRIVE COUNCIL DISTRICT ONE NOEL NUMBER SEVEN, THE ESTATE OF WILLIE LEE GEORGE IN THE ESTATE OF MATTIE SCOTT GEORGE, 28 84, UH, J STREET COUNCIL. DISTRICT TWO BANKS, NUMBER EIGHT, CHERRI L GIBBS 7,105 NORTH BUTTONWOOD DRIVE [00:05:01] COUNCIL DISTRICT FIVE HURST. NUMBER NINE, THE ESTATE OF BEN A BEN DANIELS JR. 50 38 ROSELAWN AVENUE COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN COLE NUMBER 10, SPECKLE TROUT PROPERTIES, LLC 54 55 PARKVIEW CHURCH ROAD COUNCIL DISTRICT EIGHT, AMMAR ROSA, NUMBER 11 TIMOTHY HURL BRINK 93 3 HORSESHOE DRIVE, COUNCIL DISTRICT NINE HUDSON NUMBER 12, JAMES CARL BEASON AND CLAUDIA PHILLIPS BEASON, 93 89 HORSESHOE DRIVE, COUNCIL DISTRICT NINE HUDSON NUMBER 13, TINA MARIE DEN CAMP 94 66 HORSESHOE DRIVE, COUNCIL DISTRICT NINE HUDSON. NUMBER 14, SUCCESSION OF ELEANOR NEWMAN 2054 TENNESSEE STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 15, MARGARET D. TAYLOR, 44 32 BEWELL STREET COUNCIL DISTRICT 12 RACA ADJUDICATED PROPERTY INTRODUCTIONS NUMBER 16 LOT TWO PLUS AND 46 SQUARE THREE SUBDIVISION NORTH HIGHLANDS EDITION COUNCIL DISTRICT FIVE HURST NUMBER 17 LOT 84 A SUBDIVISION, MARYLAND FARMS COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO BANKS NUMBER 18 LOT 18 SUBDIVISION BROOKSTOWN COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN COLE NUMBER 19 LOT 17 PART SQUARE 2 35 SUBDIVISION MAGNUS COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 20 LOT THREE SQUARE TWO SUBDIVISION UNIVERSITY GARDENS COUNCIL DISTRICT 12 ROCA NUMBER 21 LOT C4 SUBDIVISION DIGS TRACK COUNCIL DISTRICT 10, COLEMAN NUMBER 22 LOT 21 SUBDIVISION VILLAGE TO PROVINCE COUNCIL. DISTRICT EIGHT, AMAROSA NUMBER 23 LOT 16 A SQUARE SUBDIVISION SUBDIVISION UNIVERSITY PLACE COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO BANKS NUMBER 24 LOT 16 SQUARE EIGHT SUBDIVISION UNIVERSITY PLACE COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO BANKS NUMBER 25 LOT 20 SQUARE K SUBDIVISION NORTH FAIRFIELD COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN COLE NUMBER 26 LOT 68 PLUS SQUARE TWO SUBDIVISION RICHMOND PARK COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN COLE NUMBER 27 LOT 14 PART AND 15 PART SQUARE 12 SUBDIVISION NORTHDALE COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 28 LOT 24 PLUS SQUARE 17 SUBDIVISION UNIVERSITY PLACE COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO BANKS NUMBER 29 LOT 33 SQUARE 18 SUBDIVISION SOUTH BATON ROUGE SUB, UH, COUNCIL DISTRICT THREE, GOE NUMBER 30 LOT 90 SUBDIVISION MAYFAIR HEIGHTS COUNCIL DISTRICT 12 RACA NUMBER 31 LOT NINE SUBDIVISION BUTLER PLACE COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 32 LOT SIX PART SQUARE 2 66. COUNCIL DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN NUMBER 33 LOT 19 SQUARE 19 SUBDIVISION SOUTH BATON ROUGE COUNCIL DISTRICT 10, COLEMAN NUMBER 34, LOT SIX SUBDIVISION FRATERNITY PLACE COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO BANKS. ALL ITEMS THAT REQUIRE READING HAVE BEEN READ. AND A MOTION TO INTRODUCE ALL ITEMS AS AN ORDER. MOTION TO INTRODUCE, UH, BY COUNCIL MEMBER JEN ROCKER. THERE SECOND. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUN JR. ALL ITEMS REQUIRING INTRODUCTION HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED. IF YOU WOULD [CONDEMNATIONS] PLEASE COUNCIL NUMBERS GO TO YOUR SEPARATE SHEET FOR CONDEMNATIONS. I'M GONNA READ THE RECOMMENDATIONS AS THEY ARE. THEY ARE TO PROCEED WITH ITEM 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, AND 71. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON A CONDEMNATION? ANYONE HERE WILL NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS? WE DO HAVE A, UH, WISHING TO SPEAK WILLARD SIMS. WILLARD SIMS. WE HAVE, UH, COME TO THE MIC PLEASE FOR ME, SIR, I WILL COME TO THE MIC PLEASE FOR ME, SIR, WE HAVE ITEM 71 COTTON STREET, 5 58 COTTON STREET. WANNA THANK YOU FOR LETTING US COME HERE TODAY. WE ALSO WANNA THANK MRS. CAROLYN COLEMAN FOR WORKING WITH US OVER THIS STRONG AND LONG AGENDA FOR SAVING 5 58 COTTON STREET. I PURCHASED THIS, UM, IN TAXES AND I SPENT OVER $130,000 IN BOARDING UP THE PLACES AND THE, UH, PEOPLE WHO OWNED THE PLACE CAME BACK AND BOUGHT A PORTION OF THE PROPERTY, BUT NOT 5 58 COTTON STREET. AND NOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE ABANDONED, BUT I AM A TAX PERSON WHO PAID TAXES. THIS IS MY LAWYER ATTORNEY STEVE ADAMS, WHO HAS FILED FOR ME TO HAVE QUITE THE TITLE, BUT IT HASN'T GONE THROUGH YET. AND THEY STILL WANT ME TO ABANDON THE PLACE OR TEAR IT DOWN, BUT THE OWNER STILL OWNS IT, NOT ME. LEGALLY, THE OWNER IS OWNING IT, NOT ME. ALL I DID WAS PAY THE TAXES AND TRY TO MAKE IT LOOK PLEASANT. [00:10:01] MY LAWYER WILL SPEAK MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. UM, I AM STEVE ADAMS, UH, MS. ROBERTSON'S ATTORNEY. UM, SHE'S PAID THE TAXES ON THIS PROPERTY FOR 10 YEARS. RIGHT? AND, UM, WE HAVE, WE FILED A PETITION TO QUIET TAX TITLE, WHICH IS PENDING IN THE 19TH, A D C. UM, AS Y'ALL PROBABLY KNOW, THERE'S A WAITING PERIOD FROM THE TIME YOU FILE IT TILL THE TIME YOU CAN ACTUALLY HAVE THE HEARING. WELL, THAT IS NOW ELAPSED. WE HAVE, UH, FILED A MOTION TO SET IT FOR HEARING AND, UM, IT'S ASSIGNED TO JUDGE, UH, JUDGE . UM, MRS. UM, ROBERTSON HAS NOT BEEN, UH, IDLY SITTING BY, UH, STALLING ON THIS. UH, SHE CAN'T GET PERMANENT FINANCING UNTIL SHE GET, WE GET THIS TAX TITLE THING STRAIGHTENED OUT, WHICH I, I BELIEVE THE COURT WILL RULE IN OUR FAVOR ON THAT. IN THE MEANTIME, SHE'S SPENT A HUNDRED AND ALMOST $123,000, UH, IN COST OF REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE TO THE PROPERTY. UM, AND I'D LIKE TO GIVE A COPY OF THAT COUNSEL, THAT'S APPROPRIATE. YOU, MR. GOK, RIGHT NOW. YOU'LL PASS AROUND. AND, UM, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE WOULD RESPECTFULLY REQUESTED, UH, A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME, NUMBER ONE, TO HAVE THE COURT HEARING. I DON'T KNOW, UH, WHAT HIS DOCKET IS LIKE, BUT, UH, AS SOON AS WE CAN GET INTO COURT, WE'LL HA AND, AND SHE GETS TITLED TO THE PROPERTY, SHE CAN GET THE PERMANENT FINANCING SHE NEEDS TO MAKE THE REPAIRS THAT SHE WANTS TO MAKE. UM, SHE WENT, SHE HAD TWO LAWYERS BEFORE ME THAT DIDN'T SEEM TO GET MUCH DONE. UH, BUT, UM, SHE'S BEEN TRYING SHE'S BEEN TRYING. AND, UH, WE WOULD ASK YOUR INDULGENCE AND, UH, AND GIVING US, UH, A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME TO GET THAT TITLE, UH, CLEAR AND TO OBTAIN THE FINANCING THAT IS NEEDED TO REHABILITATE THE PROPERTY COUNCIL MEMBER CALL ME. YES, SIR. YES, SIR. UM, THIS PARTICULAR PIECE OF PROPERTY ON COTTON STREET, AND AS MS. ROBINSON STATED, YES, WE'VE BEEN HAVING CONVERSATIONS REGARDING THIS PIECE OF PROPERTY AND IT HAS BEEN FOR QUITE SOME TIME THAT, AND IT IS BACK ON THE LIST AT THIS POINT. I GUESS I'M ASKING WHAT IS YOUR REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT YOU ARE REQUESTING, AND THEN WHAT I ALSO LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT I MAKE MENTION HERE IS THAT OTHER CONSTITUENTS THAT ARE NEAR THIS PIECE OF PROPERTY HAVE CONCERNS MM-HMM. AND HAVE BEEN CALLING AND HAVE. BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S THE REASONABLE, UH, WHAT YOU'RE ASKING FOR, BECAUSE WE'VE GIVEN TIME AND WE'VE GIVEN TIME AND WE'VE GIVEN TIME, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'VE PUT IN MONEY IN AND ALL OF THIS AND PAID FOR 10 YEARS AND WE ARE TRYING TO GET A TAX TITLE THING AND ALL OF THIS. BUT WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT AS REASONABLE? WELL, UH, MADAM COUNCILMAN, THE, UH, THE THING THAT WE, WE CANNOT, UH, GUESSTIMATE IS THE DATE. WE WILL HAVE OUR COURT DATE. I WOULD ASSUME WE WOULD HAVE SOMETHING WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS. UM, AND THEN ONCE WE GET A JUDGMENT, UM, WE'LL BE READY TO ROLL WITH THE FINANCING AND, AND, AND GET THIS PROPERTY BACK IN SHIP SHAPE. AND I THINK THAT'S THE KIND OF CONVERSATION THAT WE'VE HAD BEFORE. SO I GOT TO KNOW WHAT IS REASONABLE. I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT A TIMEFRAME HERE. AND I KNOW YOU CAN'T DETERMINE WHEN COURT WILL BE, JUST AS, I CAN'T DETERMINE THAT MM-HMM. , BUT REASON BOY IS THE KEY WORD HERE. YEAH. AND ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WE HAD, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, IS YOU'VE GOT TO WAIT, I THINK IT'S SIX MONTHS AFTER YOU FILE THE PETITION OF QUIET TAX TITLE FOR THE, UH, [00:15:01] RECORD OWNERS TO COME IN AND ASSERT ANY CLAIM THEY HAVE. UM, AND SO WE BASICALLY HAD TO JUST SIT ON IT FOR, FOR THAT TIME. SO THAT WAS ONE, ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THE DELAYS. BUT, UM, WE NOW THAT TIME IS NOW ELAPSED, WE'RE AWAITING A HEARING DATE. UM, TIME IS THAT, CAUSE WE DON'T KNOW WHEN THE JUDGE GET THIS. AND I KNOW THAT YOU, ACCORDING TO YOUR PAPERWORK HERE, THAT YOU PUT SOME MONEY INTO THIS PIECE OF PROPERTY, MS. ROBERTSON, ACCORDING TO THIS, AND, AND, AND I HAVE, I'VE I'VE DONE SOME TIME AND TIME AND TIME. AND THEN J UH, AS FAR AS, AND I KNOW THAT YOU'RE SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT DOORS AND LOCKS AND BOARDED UP, AND I'M EVEN ASKING THE QUESTION ABOUT THE CLEANUP AROUND IT AND THE GRASS CUT AND THE, ALL OF THIS. OH, I'VE TAKEN CARE OF THAT SINCE I'VE, THE CITY WANTED $1,500 TO COVER THE CUT. AND THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T. SO THAT WAS WHEN I FIRST ACQUIRED FROM LOUISA STREET TO COTTON STREET MM-HMM. . AND I STARTED WITH A LAWN CARE SERVICE, WHICH CHARGED $150 PER MONTH JUST TO TAKE CARE OF THE ENTIRE SECTION UNTIL THE FAMILY CAME BACK AND BOUGHT ONE SECTION OF IT. TOOK CARE OF THE SHRUBBERY, TOOK CARE OF ALL OF THE, ALL OF THE OTHER NEEDS THAT WERE NEEDED. WEED EATING, TRIPPING, SHRUBBERY. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER ONE? DO YOU PAY TAXES ON BOTH OR JUST ONE. OKAY. OF UNIT, ONE UNIT I PAY TAXES. WHAT OTHER, WHEN I, OKAY, LET ME, YOU MENTIONED, OKAY, THERE'S THIS SECTION THAT'S A HOUSE AND THAT'S 5 52. THAT'S 5 52 LUISA STREET. MM-HMM. . RIGHT BEHIND THAT HOUSE IS AN ENTERTAINMENT CENTER, WHICH HAS A COOKOUT AREA WHERE ENTERTAINMENT WAS IN THREE, THE GARAGES, A BATHROOM, THE BARBECUE GRILL, ET CETERA. OKAY. WHEN I ORIGINALLY STARTED, I HAD THE WHOLE UNIT. NOW THE UNIT I ONLY HAVE NOW IS THE COTTON STREET UNIT, WHICH IS A SMALL FOURPLEX. TWO, TWO BEDROOMS IN ONE, ONE BEDROOM, TWO, TWO BEDROOMS IN TWO, ONE BEDROOM. AND THAT'S THE SECTION THAT WE ARE CONCERNED WITH. NOW, THE OWNERS HAVE SOLD THE COOKOUT AND THEY'VE SOLD 5 52 LOUISA, AND THEY'VE EVEN OFFERED TO SELL COTTON STREET, BUT IT HAD BEEN ILLEGAL FOR ME TO SELL IT BECAUSE THE TITLE ISN'T CLEAR. MM-HMM. . OKAY. SO THEN THE CITY EVEN SENT, UH, THE TAX ASSESSOR SENT THE TAX FOR COTTON STREET BACK TO ME FOR 2021. AND I CALLED THEM, THEY SENT ME A CHECK AND I CALLED THEM AND THEY SAID THAT, UM, THAT WAS A CHECK THAT THEY SENT, BUT I DIDN'T CASH IT. I WENT ON AND PAID 2022 TAXES AS I HAD BEEN PAYING, BUT THEY WERE TRYING TO TAKE THE, THE PROPERTY BACK FROM ME. UH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. UM, I MEAN, REALISTICALLY, I THINK A SAFE DATE WOULD BE PERHAPS FOUR MONTHS. THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF TIME COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN CAN PROVIDE IS 90 DAYS. I'M SORRY, THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF TIME COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN CAN PROVIDE IS 90 DAYS. OKAY. BUT IT'S TOTALLY UP TO COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN. SO, WELL, LET'S TRY 90. THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE GOT. THAT'S WHAT WE'LL WORK WITH. AND THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GONNA NEED TO WORK WITH 90 DAYS. AND AFTER 90, IF YOU ALL HAVE NOT DONE WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, WE'RE GOING PROCEED WITH WHAT WE NEED TO PROCEED WITH. I UNDERSTAND. NO SIX MONTHS, NO YEAR. 90 DAYS. 90 DAYS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL, THANK ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON A CONDEMNATION. COME ON DOWN. YES. GOOD AFTERNOON. MY NAME IS WILLARD SIMS. UH, THANK YOU. UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, GIVEN SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO MY FELLOW SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LABORATORY SCHOOL GRADUATES, UH, COUNCILMAN HURST AND COUNCILWOMAN BANKS. UM, I'M AN OWNER OF THE HOME THAT SITS JUST ADJACENT TO THE PROPERTY THAT, UH, WAS JUST SPOKEN TO, PARTICULARLY THE, UH, FOUR, UH, UH, THE TWO STORY DUPLEX RATHER. AND I HAVE BEEN [00:20:01] TRYING AS BEST AS I CAN TO HAVE SOMETHING DONE WITH THE PROPERTY FOR OVER SIX YEARS. IN FACT, UH, COUNCILWOMAN TARA WICKER WAS THE COUNCILWOMAN WHEN I FIRST ENGAGED IN THIS PROCESS. AND NOW I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGES WORKING WITH COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN. AND I FIND IT INTERESTING THAT ALTHOUGH, UH, AND CERTAINLY HAVING NO ANIMUS TOWARDS, UM, THE LADY AND THE LAWYER WHO SPOKE, UH, FOR SIX YEARS, THE DUPLEXES BASICALLY SAT IN THE SAME STATE THAT IT CURRENTLY IS NOW. AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO PHOTOS, BUT LITERALLY THERE IS GROWTH COMING OUT OF THE ROOF. AND APPARENTLY NONE OF THAT $100,000 THAT WAS SPOKEN OF, UH, TOWARDS THE, UH, CONTINUAL PROCESS OF, OF HOLDING ONTO THIS PROPERTY WAS PUT FORTH FOR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE FOR TRIMMING SHRUBS. AND UNFORTUNATELY, UH, I HAD TO, ALONG WITH MY SISTER, WHO'S A JOINT OWNER, HAVE HAD TO BEAR THE COST OF TAXES UPKEEP ON THE HOME. IT'S A RENTAL PROPERTY, AND IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO SELL, EXCUSE ME, TO RENT SUCH A PROPERTY WHEN IT'S SIX NETS TO AN EYESORE. AND THERE'S ALSO THE CONCERN TO GIVE IN THE PROXIMITY OF MY HOME AND THE DETERIORATION THAT CONTINUES TO HAPPEN OF A POSSIBLE FIRE, WHICH IS CERTAINLY IF THAT STRUCTURE CATCHES ON FIRE, IT'S GOING TO IMPACT MY HOME. SO THERE'S A MULTITUDE OF THINGS THAT BRING ME TO, UH, THIS POINT. AND I AM STRONGLY IN FAVOR OF PROCEEDING WITH THE CONDEMNATION. UH, I THINK THAT HOPES AND PROMISES ARE FINE, BUT TANGIBLE ACTIONS AND RESULTS HAVE TO ACCOMPANY THOSE PROMISES. AND QUITE FRANKLY, IN SIX YEARS, I HAVE SEEN NONE. I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE OF RESPONSIBILITY IN TERMS OF WHO IS HOLDING ONTO THIS PROPERTY, BUT FROM MY VANTAGE POINT, THAT'S NEITHER HERE NOR THERE. I'M HAVING TO BEAR THE BURDEN OF THE, THE RESULTS OF THE INACTION OF THE, THE OWNERS OF THAT PROPERTY. AND I FELT, I FEEL THAT SUFFICIENT TIME HAS BEEN ALLOWED FOR SO COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN, I WOULD STRONGLY URGE TO PROCEED WITH THE CONDEMNATION. I, I THINK THAT IS MORE THAN FAIR. I THINK MORE THAN ENOUGH REASONABLE TIME HAS BEEN GIVEN. AND, AND I THINK THIS IS JUST TIME TO HAVE THIS MATTER PUT TO REST ONCE AND FOR ALL. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. THANK YOU. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ANY CONDEMNATION? ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE CONDEMNATION? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS. COUNCIL MEMBER MEMBERS. UM, RACHEL, CAN, WOULD YOU COME PLEASE AND LET ME KNOW, UM, WHAT IS IT, ITEM NUMBER 61, THAT WOODLAND DRIVE? HAVE THEY PULLED PERMITS ON THAT OR ANYTHING? CAN YOU TELL ME? YES, MA'AM. I SEE THAT THEY'VE ATTEMPTED AT ONE TIME TO PULL PERMITS, BUT WE'RE STILL ON FOUNDATION. WE'LL COME BACK TO, SO THEY'VE APPLIED FOR PERMITS, IT LOOKS LIKE. UM, WE SENT A COMMENT LETTER THAT BASICALLY SAID, PLEASE PROVIDE A DETAILED SCOPE OF WORK TO BE THROUGH THE COURSE OF THIS RENOVATION. WE ATTACHED A QUESTIONNAIRE TO COVER ALL AREAS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED. UM, SO BASICALLY WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO DO A PLAN REVIEW OKAY. IN ORDER TO ISSUE THEM A PERMIT CURRENTLY. OKAY. SO THERE HAVE BEEN NO PERMITS? NO MA'AM. NO PERMITS ISSUED. THEY'VE APPLIED. ALL RIGHT. BUT THAT, THAT IS IT. THAT'S ALL I NEED TO KNOW. THANK YOU. OKAY, COUNCIL NUMBER MO? YEAH. UM, BACK TO, UH, 71 MS. CAROLYN, IF I, IF I MAY JOIN IN WITH YOU HERE. UH, LOOKING AT THE PICTURES AND EVERYTHING THEY SAID, UM, HOW LONG HAVE Y'ALL BEEN WAITING? THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE 71, ARE THEY STILL HERE? NO. WELL, OKAY. THEY'RE NOT HERE. SO THEY MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT THE, UM, THEY'RE WAITING ON THEIR TAX PAYMENTS OR HOW MUCH THEY OWE OR BACK TAXES THAT YOU'RE CATCHING UP ON. THEY CAN'T GET PERMITS. DID THEY GET CAUGHT UP WITH THAT? IS THAT WHAT THEY SAID? NO. NO. FROM WHAT I GATHER, THEY HAVE A TAX TITLE THING. A TAX TITLE ISSUE WITH, UM, THE OWNER. AND SHE HAS BEEN PAYING TAXES ON IT, BUT NOT BEING ABLE TO ACTUALLY [00:25:01] GET ALL OF HER PAPERWORK IN LINE, HAVING TO GO TO COURT TO HAVE IT, UM, ACTUALLY GIVEN TO OKAY. THAT, THAT'S WHAT I, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT, SO YOU BUY, WHEN YOU BUY A PROPERTY AT TAX SALE, THE SHERIFF'S AUCTION, RIGHT? SHE BROUGHT US A TAX SALE. YEAH. YES. AND SO SHE'S BEEN PAYING THE TAXES FOR 10 YEARS. AND THEN AFTER THAT YOU HAVE TO, WHAT HE CALL QUIET THE TITLE, MEANING THAT IT GIVES YOU FREE AND CLEAR TITLE TO THAT PROPERTY. OKAY. BUT THERE'S A, THERE'S A WAITING PERIOD. YEAH. YOU HAVE TO DO THE 10 YEARS AND THEN, UM, AND THEN YOU FILE AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT A CERTAIN PRESCRIBED AMOUNT OF PERIOD OF TIME TO LET ANY POTENTIAL REDEMPTIVE, UM, PERSONS COME UP. OKAY. WE HAVEN'T REACHED THAT LEVEL YET. WHAT ARE WE, WHAT, WHAT IS SHE WAITING ON FROM A, FROM A COURT, UH, TO SCHEDULE THE, AFTER SHE'S, I GUESS, LET THE SIX MONTH REDEMPTIVE PERIOD. ELAPSE. AND SO THEY'RE WAITING ON THEIR COURT DATE AFTER THAT IN ORDER FOR THE JUDGE TO GLARE HER, THE OWNER AND CLEAR THE TITLE. OKAY. SO SHE MISSED A PARTICULAR DATE TO FINALIZE THIS? NO, I THINK SHE'S STILL WAITING ON THE JUDGE TO SCHEDULE THE DATE. THAT'S WHAT I UNDERSTOOD. OKAY. I JUST HEARD YOU SAY SOMETHING ELAPSED, SO, OH, NO. LIKE AS IN, YOU HAVE TO LET A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME ELAPSE AFTER, AFTER, UM, YOU FILE TO QUIET THE TITLE. OKAY. UH, SO WE'RE IN THAT TIME PERIOD NOW. THERE'S NO WAY TO, IS THAT SOMETHING WE'RE HANDLING A CITY PARISH? NO, SIR. THIS IS LIKE A STATE LAW FOLLOWS THE, THE STATE, UM, TITLE, YOU KNOW, AND LAWS. RIGHT. SO WE'RE WAITING FOR SOMETHING FROM A JUDGE OUTSIDE OF OUR REALM. YES. YES, SIR. THERE'S NO WAY TO EXPEDITE THIS OR GET IT? NO, SIR. UH, PUSHED OR ANY ASSISTANCE THAT WE CAN GIVE. SHE WAS BASICALLY STATING THAT BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T OWN FREE AND CLEAR TITLE, THAT SHE CAN'T PULL ANY FUNDING. LIKE SHE CAN'T GET A LOAN WHILE USING THIS PROPERTY AS COLLATERAL. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? YES. BECAUSE SHE'S NOT THE FREE AND CLEAR TITLE OWNER. CORRECT. I I GET THAT. IT'S ALSO NOT PROHIBITING HER FROM SPENDING ANY OF HER OWN DOLLARS ON IT. OBVIOUSLY SHE SPENT SOME DOLLARS, SO, OKAY. I, I'M JUST LOOKING AT THE PICTURES AND I, YOU KNOW, I, I WOULD DEFER TO, UM, COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN AS FAR AS WHAT SHE WOULD LIKE TO DO, BUT I JUST LOOKING AT THESE B LOTS AND, AND WHEN SHE MENTIONED THAT SHE'S BEEN DEALING WITH THIS, OR THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEMBER YEAH, WE'RE READY TO TEAR IT DOWN. WE'VE TESTED IT AND WE'RE ABOUT TO TEAR IT DOWN. HOWEVER, THE PROPERTY OWNERS, UM, WE WERE, UM, LET KNOW ABOUT A SUCCESSION THAT WAS GOING ON, SO WE HAD TO REEVALUATE AND RE LIKE, REDO THE CONDEMNATION. OKAY. THANK YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, OR CONDEMNATIONS? I'M GONNA READ STATED, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CHANGES. THEY ARE TO PROCEED WITH ITEM 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 67, 68, 69, AND 70 DEFERRED FOR 30 DAYS. ITEM 64 DEFERRED FOR 90 DAYS. ITEM 66 AND 71 COUNCIL MEMBERS, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE CONDEMNATIONS MOTION? IS THERE A MOTION TO SUM MOVE BY COUNCIL? SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ALL CONDEMN NATIONS HAVE BEEN APPROVED. COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL NOW GO TO PAGE 14, ITEM 72, [72. 23-00172] THE QUESTION OF METROPOLITAN COUNCIL TO APPOINT THREE MEMBERS FROM THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL TO MAYOR BROOM, STORMWATER ADVISORY. COMMITTED BY MAYOR PRESENT ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTOR. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 72? ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 72? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. UH, ASHLEY, CAN YOU GIVE US SOME DIRECTION ON WHAT'S SUPPOSED TO TAKE PLACE AT THIS TIME? UM, Y'ALL CAN NOMINATE THREE MEMBERS TO SERVE SO SOMEONE COULD MAKE A MOTION TO APPOINT A PARTICULAR THREE MEMBERS. I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCIL MEMBERS LORI ADAMS, COUNCIL MEMBERS, SHAUNA BANKS AND COUNCIL MEMBER DWIGHT HUDSON. I SECOND THE MOTION COUNCIL MEMBER HEARST. OH, THERE'S BEEN A, A MOTION AND A SECOND. DO YOU DECLINE FOR COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS? UH, SO COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON AND COUNCILMAN GOK. COUNCILMAN GOK? A SECOND. THERE'S A SECOND. IS THERE ANY NOBODY HAS DECLINED THE OFFER. CONGRATULATIONS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. YOU ALL HAVE BEEN APPOINTED TO THE STORM ORDER COMMITTEE. WE NOW GO TO ITEM 73. [Items 73 & 97] LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ARE GONNA TAKE ITEM 73 AND 97 BACK TO BACK. ITEM 73, REQUESTING THE PLANNING COMMISSIONER STUDY AND AMENDING THE UDC TO PUT IN PLACE A DISTANCE LIMITATIONS FOR PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS BY COUNCIL MEMBER HEARST. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 73? WE HAVE A FEW WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 73. UH, STATE SENATOR REGINA BARROW IS HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 73. COME ON DOWN AT THAT THIS TIME I WANT TO RECOGNIZE SOME ELECTED OFFICIALS IN THE BUILDING THAT I SEE. I SEE, UH, SHOSHONE [00:30:01] STEWART REPRESENTING THE SCHOOL BOARD. AND I ALSO SEE, UH, CHAIRMAN OF THE SCHOOL BOARD, UH, DARIUS LANDIS, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. AND AGAIN, OUR SENATOR REGINA BARROW IS HERE WITH US. WHO'S GONNA SPEAK NOW? SENATOR BARROW. UH, MAYOR PROTE. WE ALSO HAVE A PA COUNCIL MEMBER. WHO'S THAT? WHERE? AYE. THROUGH THE MS. GAE. STAND UP. GAIL. STAND UP. JOSEPH, WHERE ARE YOU? RIGHT HERE. HOW YOU DOING MS. JOSEPH? THANKS FOR JOINING US TODAY. WHAT DID YOU SAY? 1994. 94. 94. GOOD YEAR STATE SENATOR. GOOD AFTERNOON. THANK YOU MR. PROTE AND ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. I APPRECIATE YOU GIVING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK. DO I SPEAK ON 73 AND 97 TOGETHER OR WILL THEY BE SEPARATE? WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE. OKAY. WELL, I WILL SPEAK ON BOTH OF THEM TOGETHER. AND SO FOR YOU, UM, YOU ALL, AS OPERATORS, YOU MAY HAVE A STANDARD THAT IS HIGH, BUT IF WE, IF THE, IF WE ARE, WE CAN'T JUST PROTECT, UM, THE RESIDENTS BASED ON THE CURRENT FACILITY, BASED ON THE CURRENT OPERATOR. WE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT THESE THINGS ARE GONNA GO LONG AFTER WE LEAVE. WE KNOW HOW FREQUENT IT IS FOR FACILITIES SUCH AS THIS, HOSPITALS AND WHAT HAVE YOU, TO NOW CHANGE OWNERSHIP. AND WE MAY GET SOMEBODY WHO DOES NOT HAVE, UM, THE SAME SENSE OF VALUE AND COMMITMENT. SO THAT IS WHY, UM, THESE THINGS ARE NECESSARY TO BE MORE, UM, TO BE MORE FOCUSED ON, IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE PARISH. SO I DO SUPPORT THE U D UDC. I KNOW, I DO ALSO THINK THAT THERE SHOULD BE A STUDY AND BEING ON PLANNING AND, AND ZONING. I WOULD BE, I WOULD FEEL MORE, UM, COMFORTABLE IN BEING ABLE TO LOOK AT HAVING THE STUDY BEFORE WE WOULD MAKE THOSE CHANGES. UM, SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A STUDY MM-HMM. . AND, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S TIME TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE OR NOT, BUT I WOULD WHENEVER YOU'RE READY. OKAY. ALRIGHT. DID YOU WANT TO, HUH? I HEAR YOU AS AMENDED. AS AMENDED TO SAY FOR YEP. WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD AND DO IT, BECAUSE I'M JUST KIND OF READY TO, UH, I'M ASKING FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE AS AMENDED NUMBER ITEM NUMBER 73. THERE'S A MOTION BY HER SECONDED BY BANKS IS DURING THE OPPOSITION TO THE MOTION FOR THE STUDY. I'D LIKE TO VOTE ON THE MACHINES, PLEASE. IF THERE'S NO OPPOSITION, EVERYBODY AGREES, BUT IF YOU WANT TO VOTE ON MACHINES ON THIS ONE, WE CAN, BUT THERE'S NO OPPOSITION. OKAY, . ALL RIGHT. NO OPPOSITION. ITEM 73 PASSES. WE NOW GO TO ITEM 97. ITEM 97, EX EXPRESSING THE OPPOSITION OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE AND PARIS OF EAST BATON ROUGE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPERATION OF ANY FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IN WHICH THE PROPOSED LOCATION IS WITHIN TWO MILES OF A SCHOOL OR ONE MILE OF A HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD BY COUNCILMAN HURST. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF YOU WHO'VE ALREADY SPOKEN ON ITEM 97, BUT IS THERE ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 97? ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 97? WHEN NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. MANY OF COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN ON ITEM 97. SOMEONE ELSE IN THE AUDIENCE WANT TO SPEAK ON ITEM 97? COME ON. STATE'S NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD. KEISHA ROBINSON, 27 36 FLORIDA BOULEVARD. I DID SPEAK EARLIER, BUT LISTENING TO, UM, THE QUESTIONS FOR, UM, ITEM 73, 73 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE, I WOULD LIKE TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT EACH COUNCIL MEMBER CLEARLY UNDERSTAND, UM, FORENSIC THE DEFINITION, THE SCOPE OF WORK THAT'S DONE AND EVERYTHING BEFORE MAKING A MAJOR DECISION. AGAIN, PEOPLE ARE MOVED BY EMOTIONS. ANY INCIDENT CAN TRIGGER SOMEONE EMOTIONS, A DIVORCE, A ILLNESS, DEATH OF A LOVED ONE. ALL OF THOSE ARE TRIGGERS THAT CAN TRIGGER YOUR MENTAL HEALTH. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT INDIVIDUALS AND MR. TEMPLE, UM, WITH UPPER MANAGEMENT, BUT BEING DIRECTLY IN THE WORK OF MENTAL HEALTH, THOSE NUMBERS, HE WAS BEING VERY MODEST WITH 'EM. WE ACTUALLY HAD A MEETING TODAY AND WE HAVE SUCCESS STORIES. AGAIN, IF YOU ARE TAKING YOUR DAUGHTER OR YOUR GRANDCHILD TO THE MOVIES, YOU CAN CLEARLY HAVE A INDIVIDUAL THAT HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME AND HAVE PAID THEIR TIME TO SOCIETY THAT COULD BE IN THE SAME THEATER WITH YOU. SO FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS, THAT'S $300,000 HOMES IN GLEN OAKS. BUT WHAT IF THAT INDIVIDUAL SELL THEIR HOME AND THAT PERSON HAVE PAID THEIR DEBT TO SOCIETY AND THEY BUY THE HOME IN DISTRICT FIVE? [00:35:01] SO WHEN YOU ARE MAKING THOSE TYPE OF DECISIONS, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ACTING AS PUBLIC SERVANT AND NOT OFF EMOTION. AS COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN STATED, MENTAL HEALTH IS A ISSUE THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US IN THIS ROOM CAN SAY THAT WE CAN RELATE TO. SO THE STUDY OF THE UDC, LET'S MAKE SURE THAT MENTAL HEALTH, THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN BANKS FOR MAKING THAT RECOMMENDATION, BECAUSE IT'S EASY FOR US TO HAVE A STUDY, BUT UNTIL WE HAVE EXPERTS THAT WORK EVERY DAY IN THE FIELD, BEST PRACTICES, UM, SO WHEN THOSE INDIVI INDIVIDUALS LEAVE EAST, THAT GOES TO EITHER HARMONY CENTER OR TO GRACE OUTREACH IN NEW ORLEANS, WE HAVE PROGRAM, UH, PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. SO MY PLEA TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU, BEFORE YOU CAST A VOTE, DO A I HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. B AT ANY GIVEN TIME, CAN IT BE SOMEONE IN MY FAMILY OR MY HOME? IT'S NOT A BLACK AND WHITE ISSUE. MENTAL HEALTH HITS AFRICAN-AMERICAN, CAUCASIAN, LATINOS, ASIANS, EVERYONE. SO WE ARE NOT GONNA PLAY THE RACE GAME. WE ARE GONNA PLAY THE GAME THAT AT ANY GIVEN TIME, WHEN THE STOCK MARKET CRASH, WILL MY MENTAL HEALTH BE TRIGGERED? THANK YOU, MA'AM. COME ON DOWN. STATE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD. KELLY STEIN, 56 47 H END AVENUE. UM, THIS IS POSSIBLY MORE OF A QUESTION. I'M JUST NOTICING THAT IN THIS, THAT IT, THERE ARE SOME MATTERS THAT SEEM A LITTLE BIT VAGUE. SO IT SAYS TWO MILES OF A SCHOOL. DOES THE TYPE OF SCHOOL MATTER? UM, ARE YOU TALKING JUST, YOU KNOW, K THROUGH EIGHT? ARE YOU TALKING, UM, PRESCHOOLS? ARE YOU TALKING DAYCARE FACILITIES? ARE YOU TALKING, UH, COMMUNITY COLLEGES? YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE ARE SCHOOLS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS, AGE LEVELS. AND THEN ALSO IT SAYS, UH, HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD. CAN THAT BE QUANTIFIED IN SOME KIND OF WAY? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? THAT'S ALL I THANK YOU, MA'AM. PLEASE COME ON DOWN. STATE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, HOW YOU DOING? MY NAME IS NAYIR RANSOM, UM, 41 55 ESSEN LANE. UM, AND THOUGH I'M NOT IN THE GLEN OAKS AREA, UM, THE COMMENTS THAT I'VE HEARD TODAY AND ALSO FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS AS I'VE BEEN COMING TO THE METRO MEETINGS, BRINGS TO ME THE IDEA OF DO WE WANT A THRIVING BATON ROUGE OR NOT? UM, AND THAT SEEMS TO BE WHAT WE'RE BOILING IT DOWN TO. I'VE HEARD COMMENTS FROM MR. TEMPLE, UM, RHETORIC CONCERNING YOUNG PEOPLE, WHICH IS VERY CONCERNING TO ME, UM, IN THE CRIMINALIZATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE. UM, I'VE ALSO HEARD COMMENTS SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THREE OTHER FACILITIES OF THIS NATURE, WHICH TO ME IS LIKE, JUST BECAUSE THEY CURRENTLY EXIST DOES NOT MEAN THEY SHOULD CONTINUE TO, ESPECIALLY IN THIS CAPACITY. UM, WHY CONTINUE TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN? THAT IS ALBERT EINSTEIN'S DEFINITION OF INSANITY. UM, AND I WOULD VERY MUCH ENCOURAGE THE METRO COUNCIL, UM, AND ALSO FOLKS WHO, UH, HAVE BEEN SILENT ON THIS PARTICULAR MATTER TO ASK THEMSELVES WHAT TYPE OF BATON ROUGE ARE THEY BUILDING, UM, BY THEIR SILENT ACCEPTANCE OF CONTINUING TO PUSH FACILITIES INTO ALREADY DISENFRANCHISED NEIGHBORHOODS. BECAUSE WHETHER IT IS A, YOU KNOW, ISSUE OF SAFETY OR NOT, WHAT IT IS, IS AN ECONOMIC ISSUE. AND WHAT WE ARE CONTINUING TO DO IS PULL THE LEGS OUT FROM UNDER FOLKS WITH CONTINUED RIGHT TO BEAR THE BRUNT OF, YOU KNOW, MAKING A, UH, BETTER COMMUNITY FOR OTHERS. RIGHT? SO AS WE MOVE FORWARD IN, YOU KNOW, MAKING THESE PLANS, I WOULD REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO LIKE, DIG DEEP AND DECIDE WHAT KIND OF CITY YOU WOULD LIKE TO PRODUCE IN THE FUTURE. BECAUSE CLEARLY THIS HAS BEEN A THING THAT'S BEEN IN A, IN THE WORKS FOR A LONG TIME, AS MOST OF THESE THINGS ARE. UM, SO THE DECISIONS THAT WE ARE MAKING TODAY ARE NOW GOING TO IMPACT PEOPLE 10 YEARS FROM NOW, RIGHT? SO THINK ABOUT THE BATON ROUGE YOU WANNA HAVE IN A DECADE IN 20 YEARS, AND, YOU KNOW, IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO, YOU KNOW, EXACERBATE INSANE INEQUALITIES ACROSS OUR CITY. THANK YOU. PLEASE COME ON DOWN. STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD. MY NAME IS CHRISTOPHER ARD AND I'M AN ALCOHOLIC. I'VE BEEN AN ALCOHOLIC FOR LAST 39 [00:40:01] YEARS, LAST 30 YEARS. I'M SORRY, FORGIVE ME. I'VE BEEN BATTLING. I HAD TO BATTLE ADDICTION. I WAS IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SEVERAL TIMES BECAUSE OF MY ADDICTION. I SUFFERED FROM DEPRESSION. I'VE BEEN TO THE FACILITIES THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. I'VE BEEN TO CARP ON LADALE. I DID MY 28 DAYS OF REHAB. I HAD TO GO TO HALFWAY HO HALFWAY HOMES IN THIS CITY. SO I DON'T SPEAK AS A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT OR CONCERNED OR A CONCERNED RESIDENT. I SPEAK FOR SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN IN THE SYSTEM, WHO'S BEEN IN THESE FACILITIES. WHAT P****S ME OFF IS THAT COMMON SENSE. I'M NOT SAYING THAT WE SHOULD. I THINK THE FACILITIES NEED TO BE OVERHAULED SLEEPING IN THREE, UH, THREE BEDS TO, UH, IN, IN A ROOM EATING DAY OLD FOOD, TRYING TO GET CLEAN, TRYING TO GET SOBER. THAT'S HARD. SOME OF YOU THAT I KNOW, I ORDER WATER AND COKE EVERYWHERE I GO. WANNA KNOW WHY? BECAUSE EVERY DAY I WANT TO DRINK. BUT THE ONE OF THE THINGS I HAVE TO DO IN MY SOBRIETY IS DO THE STEPS IS BE OF SERVICE. SO THAT'S WHAT I DO. THAT'S WHY I GET UP HERE. THAT'S WHY I BOTHER, THAT'S WHY I BOTHER MY COUNCILMAN WHO I'VE KNOWN BECAUSE I WANNA BE OF SERVICE. THIS IS CLEAR CUT. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE NEW LAWS, NEW LEGISLATION RIGHT NOW ON HOW FACILITIES OF THIS KIND CAN BE, CAN BE SET UP. THEY WILL SAY THERE, THERE'S NOT A PLAY OF EMOTION. AND I, AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THAT'S ALL I CAN, I GOT TO FIGHT WITH Y'ALL HAVE THE POWER. Y'ALL CAN DO THIS, YES OR NO. WHETHER YOU, I MEAN, YOU HAVE TO VOTE WITHIN YOUR CONSCIENCE BECAUSE I HAVE TO APPEAL TO MY . I HAVE TO APPEAL TO WHAT I KNOW IS RIGHT. JUST LIKE YOU, Y'ALL ON THIS DISTINGUISHED COUNCIL, THERE'S PLENTY. I I HEARD THE GENTLEMAN SPEAK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES. I DON'T KNOW HIS BACKGROUND. I DON'T KNOW HIM, BUT I'VE BEEN IN THEM. YOU CAN SAY THAT. OH, YOU HAVEN'T HAD INCIDENCE, INCIDENCE OF THIS UNTIL YOU GET SOAP SOPPED. I GUESS THAT WON'T GO INTO ANYBODY'S REPORT. AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT TO MAKE, I'M SAYING THAT TO MAKE A POINT IS LIKE NOT EVERYTHING ON THE PAPER GETS REPORT, UH, GETS REPORTED. THESE FACILITIES CHANGE HANDS. LIKE I CHANGE SOCKS. IT'S BIG BUSINESS. THIS IS MONEY. THIS IS WHAT IT ALL COMES DOWN TO. NOW, CHRIS, CHRIS, THAT I GAVE YOU A FEW MINUTES OVER YOUR TIME, BUT THAT'S YOUR TIME. I APOLOGIZE. UH, COUNSEL, NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE. WE APPRECIATE YOUR PASSION AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. UH, THANK YOU. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER MOK. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UM, I WOULD DIRECT THIS AT, UH, FELLOW COUNCIL MEMBERS AS FAR AS SPEAKING TO Y'ALL. AND I APPRECIATE THE PUBLIC'S COMMENT AND ALL. I HAVE A CONCERN. UH, LOOK, I I DON'T AGREE AT THE MOMENT AS FAR AS THAT FACILITY GOING RIGHT THERE NEXT TO THE SCHOOL. AND I, AND I GET WHERE THE CONCERN'S COMING FROM FOR THE PUBLIC AND EVERYTHING. BUT THIS RIGHT HERE, AND, AND JUST TO ANSWER THE GENTLEMAN'S QUESTION, THIS IS NOT AN ORDINANCE. THIS IS NOT CHANGING ANY RULES OR WHATEVER ELSE. IT'S JUST AN OPINION. KIND OF LIKE, IT DOESN'T SAY RESOLUTION, BUT IT'S MORE OF AN OPINION OF THE COUNCIL ABOUT THIS WHAT'S WORDED IN HERE AND EXPRESSING THE OPPOSITION OF THE METRO COUNCIL. OF THE METRO COUNCIL. I, I'M WORRIED WHAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT AND, UM, PLANNING CAN COME UP. UH, BRIAN, PLEASE. THIS IS A BROAD NET I THINK THAT WE'RE THROWING OUT THERE WHEN WE TALK ABOUT TWO MILES IN ONE MILE. I, I THINK IS THIS, I MEAN, EVEN IF YOU DROVE UP RIVER ROAD TOWARD LE BURGE AND FOUND A SPOT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE BETWEEN HERE AND LE BURGE IN ALL THAT LAND THAT'S OUT THERE, YOU'RE STILL GONNA BE WITHIN ONE MILE OR TWO MILES OF A SCHOOL. AND, AND WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THIS ISN'T DRIVING A MILE DOWN THE ROAD TURNING LEFT, AND THIS IS AIR MILES FROM WHERE THEY WANT TO BE. YOU'RE GOING ONE MILE IN A PARTICULAR AIR MILES. ANYTHING IN THAT CIRCLE IS GOING TO CAUSE THIS TO BE. AND I THINK IS, IS THIS EVEN DOABLE? AND I UNDERSTAND IT'S JUST AN EXPRESSION, BUT IS THIS EVEN DOABLE OR ARE YOU BASICALLY SAYING THIS, NONE OF THIS CAN EVER BE BUILT IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH BY ACCEPTING SOMETHING LIKE THIS. SPEAKING TO THE QUESTION ABOUT THE DISTANCE REQUIREMENT, THE GREATEST DISTANCE REQUIREMENT IN THE UDC REGARDING USES IS A THOUSAND FEET THAT'S [00:45:01] CURRENTLY EXISTS IN THE UDC. CORRECT. AND, AND MAYBE WE NEED TO EXPAND THAT MILES. MAYBE WE, WE DON'T, I I GUESS WHAT I'M GETTING AT FROM A COUNCIL STANDPOINT, WHAT I'M, WHAT I'M ASKING YOU TO LOOK AT IS, UH, LOOK, COUNCILMAN HURST AGAIN, I GO BACK TO THE THING. I DO THINK WE NEED FACILITIES, I THINK, BUT THIS RIGHT HERE IS, I THINK IS A BLANKET TO WHERE I FELT LIKE MAYBE WE CAN BRING IT BACK BEING MORE NARROWED DOWN. MAYBE IT COULD BE A SPECIFIC RESOLUTION TO, TO THIS PARTICULAR THING. UM, OR EXPRESSION TO THAT. I, I THINK THIS OPENS UP A LOT AS FAR AS THE CITY AND IT SETS SOMETHING THAT, UM, THAT WE'LL HAVE TO, AT LEAST IN MY OPINION, WE HAVE TO STATE OVER AND OVER, YOU KNOW, WE PASSED THIS EXPRESSION AND THIS RESOLUTION ABOUT, WE DON'T WANT ANYTHING WITHIN TWO MILES AND SO ON. SO, I, I'M JUST CONCERNED ABOUT THAT. AS FAR AS WHAT TO RAISE THE RESOLUTION IS RESOLUTION IS STATED. SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT UP. THINK ABOUT THAT. BEFORE WE DO A KNEE JAR, WE JUST ASKED FOR A STUDY TO BE DONE. WHY CAN'T WE WAIT TILL THE STUDY'S DONE AND GET SOME INFORMATION BACK ON THAT AND LET THE EXPERTS COME TELL US, JUST LIKE WE DO AT MASTER PLANNING AND STUFF. UM, THEY TELL US THESE ARE THE AREAS THAT THIS WOULD WORK IN. THESE ARE THE AREAS THAT WE COULD PUT THIS AND WE KINDA REARRANGE AND, AND CHANGE THE UDC TO MATCH THAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. COUNCIL MEMBERS, BEFORE I GO TO YOU ALL, I THINK COUNCIL MEMBER HIRST WANTS TO MAKE A RE A MOTION TO DEFER THE ITEM. UH, THAT MAY CHANGE SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS. YEAH. AND SO, UH, I, I, I AM GOING TO MAKE A MOTION TO DEFER, BUT I WANT TO EXPLAIN TO THE PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE WHY. WELL, I'M GONNA COME BACK TO YOU CUZ THEY WANT TO GO FIRST. SINCE THEY LEFT THERE FIRST THEY REQUESTED TO GO FIRST. COUNCIL MEMBER NOEL, I, I'LL, I'LL HOLD MY COMMENTS TO BE BROUGHT BACK UP AFTER DEFERRAL. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN, I GUESS ALL OF THIS IS IN LINE WITH COURTNEY. COME UP PLEASE. AND WHAT I AM LOOKING AT HERE IS 73 IS A STUDY. MM-HMM. . AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO APPROVE 97. AND WE HAVEN'T STUDIED. YEAH, WE, WE HAVEN'T STUDIED, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE TALKING ABOUT DOING. SO COURTNEY, TALK TO ME ABOUT ANY LEGAL CONCERNS OF THAT YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT A COUNCIL RESOLUTION OR JUST, JUST COMING AS THEY SAY IN, IN THE CHURCH. COME YOUR OWN WAY, BABE. OKAY. . YEAH. YEAH. WELL, I DID A FEW WEEKS BY EMAIL. SO YOU DID, UM, JUST, UH, PUTTING COUNCIL MEMBERS ON NOTICE, UH, ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR ITEM AND WHAT IT COULD MEAN. UM, SO YEAH, SO YOU'VE STATED IT CORRECTLY. SO YOU'VE GOT ONE ITEM THAT ACTUALLY IS GOING TO DO THE WORK AND DO THE RESEARCH. AND THEN YOU'VE GOT ONE ITEM THAT THE RESEARCH DOESN'T EXIST YET, BUT THERE'S A REQUEST BEING MADE THAT YOU ALL EXPRESS, UH, STANCE ON IT. SO AT THIS TIME, IT'S ALWAYS BEST, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE I'M GONNA ADVISE THE COUNCIL TO MOVE WHAT CAUTION AND TO GET THE STUDY DONE SO THAT YOU ALL KNOW THE LEGAL BASIS ON WHICH YOU ALL CAN STAND ON BEFORE YOU MAKE A DECISION, RIGHT? YES. THANK YOU, MA'AM. ALL RIGHT. KEYWORD LEGAL. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER. HEAR. OKAY, SO WE, WE HAVE HAD SOME INITIAL CONVERSATIONS ON THIS. I WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN THE STEPS. SHE WASN'T FINISHED. I APOLOGIZE. I'M SORRY. SO I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION. LET ME PUT THIS ON SO EVERYBODY CAN HEAR. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THAT WE DELETE THIS RESOLUTION UNTIL WE GET OUR STUDY BACK. SECOND, THERE IS A MOTION TO DELETE BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN SECONDARY BY COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER PER WHO IS UP NEXT COUNCIL MEMBER. SO, UM, MY SUBSTITUTE MOTION, UH, WILL BE TO DEFER IT, BUT IT WILL BE BASED ON THE LANGUAGE THAT IF FOUND LEGAL, AND I'M GONNA FIND THE RIGHT TERM. CAUSE WHAT I DO, WHAT WHAT WE DO WITH THESE RESOLUTIONS IS INSTEAD OF HAVING 12 PEOPLE SHOW UP AT THE PLANT IN THE ZON MEETING, WHICH NONE OF Y'ALL ARE GONNA BE THERE, I'LL NEVER SEE Y'ALL THERE UNLESS WE HAVE AN ITEM ON THERE. I'M NOT SAYING NONE CHINA BANKS IS GONNA BE THERE CAUSE SHE SITS ON THE BOARD. BUT, UM, UNLESS WE HAVE SOMETHING MAJOR GOING ON IN OUR DISTRICT, MOST OF US DO NOT SHOW UP TO THOSE MEETINGS, RIGHT? NO, BUT SO WE WON'T, WE WELL, I MEAN EVERY NOW AND THEN WE DO. BUT THE BOTTOM LINE, WE, MOST OF US DON'T, RIGHT? WE COME TO THE COUNCIL MEETINGS. SO WHAT THIS RESOLUTION WAS INTENDED FOR WAS TO SHOW SUPPORT THAT IF THIS WAS FOUND LEGAL, THAT WE WOULD SUPPORT IT BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T WANT IT IN OUR DISTRICTS. AND SO I BELIEVE THAT OPINION BASED ON THE WORDS, WE PUT THE RIGHT WORDS IN THERE, WHICH IS WHY I'M GOING TO ADD REQUEST TO DEFER, TO ALLOW TIME. I JUST ENTERED, REINTRODUCE IT, EITHER ONE. BUT, UM, BUT I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY WHO DID SHOW UP TODAY. [00:50:01] I BELIEVE YOUR VOICES WERE HEARD. I BELIEVE THE, THE, THE COUNCIL, THE COMMUNITY, EVERYBODY ONLINE, EVERYBODY OUT IN TV, LAND. UH, THE MEDIA HEARD THAT YOU ALL WERE EXTREME OPPOSITION OF THIS. I WANT TO THANK THE ELECTED OFFICIALS THAT SHOWED UP. CAUSE I KNOW HOW MANY MEETINGS WE HAVE ON A WEEKLY BASIS OUTSIDE OF YOUR NORMAL JOBS, RIGHT? SO I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY. I AM NOT DEFERRING THIS CAUSE, UM, I'M NOT IN SUPPORT OF IT. I'M DEFERRING IT BECAUSE I WANT TO BE LEGAL, MORAL, AND ETHICAL WITH ANYTHING THAT WE DO. AND THE CHANGE IN THE LANGUAGE THAT STATES THAT IF APPROVED BY PLANNING AND ZONING, THEN WE SHOW THAT WE ARE IN SUPPORT OF PLANNING AND ZONING'S DECISION. IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, WHICH IS WHAT THIS WAS INITIALLY INTENDED FOR, TO SHOW SUPPORT SO THAT WHEN WE ARE NOT AT THAT MEETING, I WILL BE THERE. BUT I CAN SHOW THAT MY COLLEAGUES STOOD BESIDE ME BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T WANT THIS IN THEIR DISTRICT EITHER IF IT WAS LEGAL, MORAL, AND ETHICAL. SO I WILL REQUEST THAT THE DEFERRAL GOAL, AND IF IT'S DELETED, I WILL JUST REINTRODUCE IT TO BE CLEAR. BUT, UM, I AM REQUESTING AS A SUBSTITUTE MOTION THAT IT'LL BE DEFERRED SO THAT WE CAN PUT THE SUBSTANTIVE LANGUAGE IN THERE SO THAT IT DOES NOT, UM, NEGATIVELY IMPACT ANY OF MY COLLEAGUES OR THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE. THANK YOU. FOR HOW LONG? I'LL, I'LL SECOND THE DEFER IF IT'S 120 DAYS TO GIVE US TIME TO GET THE STUDY BACK JUST DELETED. YEAH, I WAS THINKING LIKE TWO WEEKS, UH, FOUR WEEKS. I SEC, I SEC. BECAUSE I WANTED TO SHOW AT THE, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT I, I'LL I'LL DEFER FOR, FOR, FOR 60 DAYS. I THINK THAT SHOULD GIVE 'EM ENOUGH TIME TO COME BACK. SINCE WE, SINCE WE CHANGE THE DEFINITION DOWN TO STRICTLY HOSPITAL, IT SHOULD GIVE US ENOUGH TIME IN 60 DAYS TO DETERMINE. UH, I JUST DON'T WANNA MISS THE OPPORTUNITY ON THE, ON THE, ON THE ZONING. IF WE DO IT TOO LONG, THEN THE RESOLUTION COMES OUT AFTER THE ZONING STUDY IS DONE AND GOES BEFORE THE BOARD. SO, UH, CAN WE GO WITH 60 TODAY? DEFERRAL? IS THAT MOTION SHOWING TWICE THAT, IS THAT YOUR MOTION? THAT IS MY MOTION. MOTION. MY COUNSEL NUMBER HEARD SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUN JR. WILL NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON. UH, COURTNEY, IF YOU WOULD COME BACK UP, COURTNEY. UH, I WANT SOME CLARITY ON IF THIS ITEM WERE TO BE PASSED TONIGHT, WHAT IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE ON THE, UH, DEVELOPMENT OR THE, THE, THE FACILITY THAT THE NEIGHBORS ARE UP IN ARMS ABOUT. SO IF WE PASS THIS ITEM TONIGHT, DOES IT STOP THE FACILITY? DOES IT SHUT 'EM DOWN, OR ARE THEY STILL GONNA BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE SO LONG AS THEY OPERATE WITHIN THE, THE SPUD THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE? THE RESOLUTION ITSELF WON'T SHUT IT DOWN OR, OR STOP THE OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ITSELF, BUT THE, BASICALLY THE METRO COUNCIL IS JUST TAKING A POSITION THAT Y'ALL ARE GIVING THEM A PREVIEW IN ADVANCE THAT Y'ALL ARE, Y'ALL ARE GOING TO OPPOSE IT. UM, IF, IF Y'ALL HAVE TO VOTE ON ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH OPERATION OR DEVELOPMENT OF, OF A PROJECT LIKE THIS. SO FROM A LIABILITY STANDPOINT, WE ARE TAKING A POSITION ON THE OPERATION OF A BUSINESS WITHOUT A SET OF STANDARDS TO, TO SORT OF MAKE THAT VOTE. DOES THAT GIVE THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE ANY PAUSE? A AS TO OUR LIABILITY, A BUSINESS'S CHANCE TO COME AND SUE US FOR, UM, MAKING THAT OPINION? THAT'S GONNA GIVE US SOME WORK TO DO. YEAH, I MEAN, IT'S BASICALLY WHAT IT DOES IS I'M GONNA GIVE YOU THE LOYALLY ANSWER MAYBE, RIGHT? BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW YET UNTIL SOMEBODY MAKES AN ISSUE OUT OF IT. AND BECAUSE THIS RESOLUTION IS BASICALLY STATING FOR THE METRO COUNCIL THAT YOU ALL ARE GOING TO SAY NO TO ANYTHING, UM, INVOLVING THE OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF A, OF A PROJECT LIKE THIS. UM, THE PERSON THAT'S SEEKING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN, THE DEVELOPER COULD SAY, OH, IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS RESOLUTION THAT THAT MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM. AND SO THEN THE, THE BALL STARTS ROLLING, UM, IN THAT DIRECTION. YEP. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU COREY. OKAY. YOU'RE WELCOME. I, I'LL JUST TELL YOU MY OPINION IS THAT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THIS COUNCIL TO HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT THIS ISSUE IS IF AND WHEN THE SPUD IS, UH, AN APPLICATION IS PUT IN FOR THE SPUD TO BE UPDATED. UM, YOU KNOW, FOR US TO JUST BE MAKING OPINIONS WITHOUT HAVING THE DATA PRESENTED TO US, WITHOUT HAVING A SET OF STANDARDS THAT WE CAN, UH, JUDGE IT LIKE WE WOULD ANYTHING ELSE IN OUR UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE. I, I THINK IS A, A REALLY DANGEROUS STEP LONG TERM FOR US TO BE MAKING AS A COUNCIL. UM, [00:55:01] JUST AS A MATTER OF, UH, FUNCTION OF THE WAY THAT THE OR, OR THE, UM, RESOLUTION IS CURRENTLY WRITTEN. I ALSO FIND SOME ISSUES. I CERTAINLY DON'T MIND REVISITING IT, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE TALK IN HERE ABOUT A HIGH DENSITY SUBDIVISION. UH, GLEN OAKS IS NOT A HIGH DENSITY SUBDIVISION. IF YOU LOOK AT OUR UDC, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN, UH, WE DON'T REALLY TALK ABOUT, UH, SCHOOLS IN THIS. WE DON'T REALLY TALK ABOUT, UM, CERTAIN TYPES OF FACILITIES. WE DON'T TALK ABOUT DAYCARES, THAT KIND OF THING. SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS TO, TO LOOK THROUGH. AND I THINK IT WOULD BE AN EXTREMELY CUMBERSOME FLOOR AMENDMENT, UH, IF WE WERE TO TRY AND JUST DEFER IT. SO, UM, AS COUNCILMAN HURST ITEM, IF HE WANTS TO DEFER IT, THAT'S FINE. I, I'M NOT GONNA TAKE AN ISSUE WITH THAT. I JUST THINK A DELETION AND THEN A RESUBMITTAL MIGHT MAKE IT A CLEANER ITEM FOR US TO DISCUSS WHEN IT COMES BACK IN THE FUTURE. THAT'S MY FEEDBACK. COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. YES. UM, I, UM, FOR, FOR ME, I'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT HASTE MAKES WASTE AND FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, MAKING IT CLEAR, I WOULD NOT WANT, UM, A FORENSIC FACILITY IN MY, UM, ENTIRE DISTRICT UNLESS IT'S THE, UH, AN AREA WHERE IT'S NOT AROUND SCHOOLS AND RESIDENTS. SO, BUT I THINK THAT WE MAY BE MISSING AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXAMINE ALL THE, UM, THINGS THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN TALKING ABOUT NOT ONLY A FUTURE PLANS FOR A FORENSIC FACILITY, BUT ALSO THE EXISTING FACILITY AS WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH. NOW THIS ONLY TALKS ABOUT WITHIN TWO MILES OF A SCHOOL OR ONE MILE OF A HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL AREA. BUT THAT IS ONLY, THAT IS NOT NEARLY, UM, EVERYTHING THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WITH THIS AND ALL THE THINGS THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED COULD BE, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE, WE DEAL WITH OVERCROWDING, UM, SAFETY AND SECURITY, UM, CONCERNS, INABILITY TO MEET CODE, FOR INSTANCE, LIKE, UM, COUNCILMAN HUDSON SAID THIS IS GONNA, WOULD COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL. IT MAY NOT EVEN MEET CODE. UM, WE ALSO NEED TO KIND OF TALK ABOUT, UM, WHAT ARE THE CRIME TRENDS THAT EXIST IN THAT COMMUNITY? WE MAY HAVE TO MAKE RESOLUTIONS OR ORDINANCE THAT IF THERE'S A, A SPECIFIC, A POTENTIAL AMOUNT OF CRIME OR, UH, THE DATA, THEN WE SHOULD NOT ADD THIS TO IT. UM, WHAT ARE THE LIABILITIES OF FOR RESIDENTS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE ALREADY THERE AND SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN? UH, WHAT ARE THE ACCREDITATION ISSUES? SO FOR ME, THIS IS VERY LIMITED IN SCOPE AS IT RELATES TO THE MILES. UM, THERE'S A WHOLE LOT THAT CAN COME OUT OF THIS STUDY. I HATE THAT WE WOULD WANT TO EVEN PUT A 60, UM, DAY MANDATE ON IT BECAUSE AGAIN, WE NEED TO TALK TO PROFESSIONALS THAT ARE IN THE FIELD. UH, WE NEED TO DETERMINE WHAT THE DIFFERENT, UM, KINDS OF MENTAL HEALTH, THE, THE LANGUAGE, UH, THAT IS BEING USED, YOU KNOW, THERE, WHAT ARE THE CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY, IN MEDICAL, ALL KINDS OF LEGAL ISSUES. SO FOR ME, I TOO AGREE THAT WE SHOULD DELETE THE ITEM. WE SHOULD HAVE A STUDY AND COME UP WITH EVEN A COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, TALK ABOUT ALL THE POSSIBILITIES THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ADDRESSED AND THEN COME BACK WITH AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ON HOW TO MOVE FORWARD. UM, BOTH FROM THE COUNCIL PERSPECTIVE AND A PLANNING PERSPECTIVE. UM, ONE THING THAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT MENTAL HEALTH, WHETHER IT'S FORENSIC OR OTHERWISE, IS ON THE RISE. AND SO WE NEED TO PLAN THE FACT THAT THERE ARE THREE THAT ARE NOT, AND THERE ARE NOT HOSPITALS. BUT I CAN TELL YOU FROM WHERE, UM, FROM WHERE I WORK ON AS A, AS A CAREER, THE TRAUMA THAT, UM, CHILDREN AND PARENTS AND EVEN GRANDPARENTS ARE EXPRESS ARE EXPERIENCING AND THOSE ITEMS ARE NOT BEING TREATED. IT HAS GIVEN ME A TOTAL NEW PERSPECTIVE ON MARIJUANA SMOKING. CAUSE I TELL YOU, UH, THESE KIDS, WHAT THEY GO THROUGH, UM, AND FAMILIES, IT, IT'S A LOT. AND SO THEY'RE HOLDING ON BY STRINGS, UH, CHILDREN, PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, EVERYBODY. SO I DON'T WANT US TO, UM, HAVE A QUICK TRIGGER ON THIS, BUT WE DO NEED TO PLAN IT IN A POINT, JUST LIKE THE YOUNG LADY SAID, BASED ON THE FUTURE NEEDS, THAT WITHOUT A DOUBT ARE GOING TO BE NEEDED IN EVERY COMMUNITY. UH, NOT ONLY IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, [01:00:01] BUT THROUGHOUT THIS STATE COUNCIL MEMBER HURST, HEY, I'M GOING TO, UH, PULL MY SUBSTITUTE MOTION AND I'M GONNA HAVE ANOTHER MOTION ONCE HE SECONDS IN. I, I PULL MY SECOND AND I'M GOING TO GO WITH CLEVES ORIGINAL MOTION TO DEFER IT BECAUSE IT IS A DEAL. WE WANT TO DO IT THE RIGHT WAY. I SUPPORT THAT. RIGHT? UM, AND I BELIEVE THERE'S BEEN ENOUGH DISCUSSION AROUND IT TO ENSURE THAT, UM, THE PLANNING IS ON, AND I'M SURE CHINA IS GOING TO RING EVERY BELL IN THERE THAT DAY, UM, TO DURING THAT MEETING. BUT, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S DONE THE RIGHT WAY. AND, UH, I TRULY BELIEVE WITH CHINA BEING ON THAT BOARD, THAT WE WILL HAVE A VOICE THAT WE NEED AFTER I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS, UH, A NUMBER OF TIMES. SO I WILL MAKE MY DEFERRAL TO POST, UH, THE STUDY BEING DONE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO IT THE RIGHT WAY AND DON'T PUT THE CITY IN THE BIND THE POSITION. SO WHAT IS YOUR MOTION? UM, TO DEFER IT POST THE STUDY? SO I WOULD SAY I WILL GO WITH ON 120 DAYS MOTION TO DEFER FOR 120 DAYS. SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN JR. WHICH IS THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION. WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER NOEL COURTNEY. SO I'M GONNA KIND OF JUMP OFF OF WHAT DWIGHT TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE BIT, BUT I'M GONNA ASK IT IN SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY. SO, UH, WHAT GAVE ME A LITTLE BIT OF CONCERN IS, IS MUCH WHAT WAS SPOKEN ABOUT. UM, OBVIOUSLY WHEN WE LOOK AT ITEM 73, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HAVING A STUDY WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 97. IT, IT HAS SOME SPECIFICITY ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE POTENTIALLY ALLOWED WITHIN THE UDC. AND I GUESS, UH, SHOULD WE SEE SOMETHING IF WE WERE TO PASS THIS, WHETHER IT'S LIKE THIS OR EVEN REVISED IN SOME MANNER THAT HAS SOME SPECIFICITY ABOUT WHAT IS OTHERWISE A LEGAL USE UNDER THE UDC, AND THEN SOMEBODY COMES WITH, UH, A REQUEST FOR THAT TYPE OF AN ITEM, AND WE'VE ALREADY KIND OF GIVEN AN OPINION ON IT AND SPOKEN ON IT, AND IT'S DENIED FOR REASONS THAT ARE MAYBE OUTSIDE OF WHAT ANYBODY WOULD BE THINKING TODAY THAT ARE OTHERWISE WOULD BE BE CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE AND, UM, DEALING WITH SUCH AS HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE, THAT YOU WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM. THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WOULD'VE NO PROBLEM WITH DEFENDING BECAUSE IT WOULD OTHERWISE BE SEEN AS LEGITIMATE IF THAT WERE TO OCCUR. BUT PASSING THIS BEFORE, WOULD WE RUN THE RISK OF DE-LEGITIMIZING THOSE OTHERWISE WOULD WE WOULD CONSIDER LEGITIMATE ITEMS BY DOING THIS? WOULD PASSING SOMETHING LIKE THIS POTENTIALLY DE-LEGITIMIZE THOSE ITEMS IF IT WERE CHALLENGED? SO I HAVE TO GIVE YOU THE GENERAL LAWYER ANSWERED. I'VE TRIED TO MAKE IT SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO, BUT OKAY. I KNOW, BUT YOU KNOW, I'M, YOU KNOW, WHERE I'M, I'M JUST ASKING WOULD WE RUN THE RISK OF DEALING DINANT? I KNOW. SO I, I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW. BUT, AND LOOK, IT'S A RESOLUTION, IT'S NOT AN ORDINANCE, SO YOU HAVE TO WEIGH THAT CONSIDERATION ALSO. UM, BUT YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT STRAIGHT UP RISK, YES. YEAH. I MEAN THE RISK IS ALWAYS THERE. MM-HMM. , WE JUST WON'T KNOW WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE UNTIL IT STARTS TAKING SHAPE. BUT THE RISK DOES EXIST. YES. MORE SO BY PASSING THEN, THEN, THEN NOT. YEAH, BECAUSE YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE PASSING, IF YOU'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PASSING THE RESOLUTION TO OPPOSE ANY RESOLUTION SIMILAR TO THIS, IF, IF SOMETHING IS LATER DENIED EVEN FOR A LEGITIMATE REASON, DO YOU SEE, WOULD IT BE PLAUSIBLE THAT WE'RE RUNNING THE RISK OF, OF SOMEONE CHALLENGING THE FACT THAT WE DID THIS EARLIER ON AND USING THAT AS PART OF THAT CHALLENGE? YES. THE, THE RISK EXISTS BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN'T SUE FOR ANYTHING. SURE, YEAH. SURE. AND THAT'S, THAT'S THAT'S THE ISSUE. WE'RE POTENTIALLY GIVING 'EM AMMO IS MY CONCERN. YES. YEAH. OKAY. YEAH. THAT'S LIKE THE, THE SHORT AND SWEET OF IT. YEAH. AND YOU'RE GIVING THEM SOMETHING TO WORK WITH. YOUR COUNCILMAN HURT. THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I, THAT'S MY BIGGEST CONCERN WITH THIS. SO I WOULD JUST ASK WHEN THIS IS REDRAFTED THAT IT IS, YOU KNOW, KEEP THAT TOP OF MIND SO THAT WE'RE COMPLETELY PROTECTED. I THINK THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE, HOW WE ALL FEEL. WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE DON'T PUT OURSELVES IN A BAD POSITION IN THE FUTURE. MM-HMM. , THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THANK YOU. COUNCIL NUMBER. MO UH, COURTNEY, PLEASE JOIN US AGAIN. YES. LOOK, I WAS GONNA STAY. THAT'S MY BAD. . ALL RIGHT. , I'M HERE. UM, IN RESPECT TO THE DEFERRAL VERSUS, UM, DE DELETION AND REINTRODUCTION OR [01:05:01] WHATEVER ON RESOLUTIONS, IT, WE COME BACK WITH THE STUDY, WE FIND OUT WHERE IT'S GOING OR WHATEVER ELSE IS LIKE ORDINANCES THAT GET DEFERRED, OR YOU GO TO AMEND OR CHANGE AND THEY HAVE SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES OR THINGS LIKE THAT. DO RESOLUTIONS WORK THAT SAME WAY? IF, IF THIS THING, RIGHT NOW, I FEEL LIKE THIS ITEM HERE PUTS US IN A POSITION OF, WE'RE BASICALLY STATING AS A COUNCIL, WE DON'T WANT ANY MENTAL, PSYCHIATRIC, FORENSIC, PSYCHIATRIC FACILITIES, HOSPITALS IN EAST BAT ROUGE PARISH. MM-HMM. . THAT TO ME IS WHAT THIS RESOLUTION OR EXPRESSION OF OPPOSITION IS SAYING. BECAUSE AGAIN, YOU GO TWO MILES, YOU'RE GOING TO HIT A SCHOOL, THROW A ROCK FOR TWO MILES, EITHER DIRECTION, YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA HIT A SCHOOL SOMEWHERE, GO ONE MILE ANY DIRECTION. I FEEL LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO HIT A HIGH DENSITY, OR A, A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT'S GONNA BE, THE PUBLIC'S GONNA CONSIDER IT TO BE HIGH DENSITY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. MM-HMM. TO ME, RESOLUTIONS ZERO DOWN TO A SPECIFIC SOMETHING. THIS IS REALLY BAD. THIS PARTICULAR THING. I E IF WE EXPRESS OPPOSITION AGAINST, UM, THIS TYPE OF FACILITY NEXT TO A, RIGHT, NEXT TO GLEN OAK SCHOOL OR WHEREVER IT'S AT, IT, IT, IT, IT TARGETS THAT, THIS TO ME IS A BROAD ITEM. SO IF HE GOES TO CHANGE THIS LATER ON, WILL IT POSSIBLY HAVE TO BE REDONE COMPLETELY ANYWAY, OR PULLED FOR SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT BASED ON WHAT MIGHT BE COMING OUT OF THE STUDY OR ANYTHING? SO THERE'S A POSSIBILITY DEPENDING ON WHAT THE LANGUAGE WOULD BE TO AMEND, AMEND IT. BUT IF IT'S A, IF IT'S A SUBSTANTIAL MATERIAL CHANGE, THEN YES, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE REINTRODUCED AS A NEW ITEM, JUST LIKE ORDINANCES DO, BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW RESOLUTIONS FELL UNDER THAT SAME TYPE OF SITUATION. OR YOU CAN JUST TAKE ANY RESOLUTION AND CHANGE THE WORDING ON THE FLY, BECAUSE IT'S, IT RESOLUTIONS TO ME HAVE NO TEETH. I, I, I, IT MIGHT TO Y'ALL OR WHATEVER ELSE, BUT IT, IT DOESN'T CHANGE OR IT JUST SAYS, WELL, WE DON'T LIKE THAT. OKAY. DEAL WITH IT. NO, YOU'RE CORRECT. CAUSE THEY, BECAUSE IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT A, A LAW. CORRECT. IT'S NOT A LEGALLY BINDING THING. IT JUST EXPRESSES A WISH OR A DESIRE. CORRECT. SO, A AGAIN, UH, TO, TO COUNCILMAN HURST, UM, YOU, YOU KNOW, BEING THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS GONNA CHANGE TO YOU, I'M, I'M SORRY, JUST HAVEN'T SAID THAT BECAUSE NOW MY BRAIN IS TURNING. YES, MA'AM. IT COULD BE A THING IN A LAWSUIT. SO I JUST WANNA, YEAH, BECAUSE WE'VE EXPRESSED THAT WE DON'T WANT SUCH AND SUCH, AND THEY MAY SAY, WELL, YOU SAID NOW YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING IN RESPECT. RIGHT. SO AGAIN, COUNCILMAN HURST, I, I, I WOULD REQUEST TO GO WITH THE DELETION, THE, THE TIMELINE, THE FRAME, THE EVERYTHING. IT WOULD BE THE SAME AS FAR AS IF YOU HAD TO REINTRODUCE IT, YOU COULD STILL DO IT WITHIN THE 120 DAYS. BUT LET'S, LET'S TAKE THIS OFF AND START FROM SCRATCH AND GO FROM THERE. THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER. HEY, I'M GOING, UH, RESUBMIT IT, BUT I'M GONNA DO IT THE RIGHT WAY. SO I JUST WANT Y'ALL TO KNOW I DON'T, UH, I'D LOVE FOR EVERYBODY TO COME BACK AS I RESUBMIT IT. UH, DWIGHT HUDSON BROUGHT UP SOME THINGS THAT I PLANNED ON CHANGING FROM THE FLOOR. WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE AT D WHITE, SO IT'S NOT NEW ON THE FLOOR, BUT GOING FROM HIGH DENSITY TO MEDIUM OR LOW OR LOWER, JUST USING THE WORD SUBDIVISION TO FIND SCHOOLS, DAYCARES, CHURCHES LIKE THE ABC BOARD DOES. SO ALL OF THAT'S FINE. SO, UM, WHAT I'LL DO IS I WILL THIRD THE MOTION TO DELETE IT. AND, UH, I WANT FIRST BY PULLING MY, UH, MY DEFERRAL FOR 120 DAYS. PULL MY SECOND AND I'LL GO WITH THE, UH, THE INITIAL MOTION. THERE HAS BEEN A MOTION TO DELETE THE ITEM BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. IS THERE ANY OBJECTION TO DELETION? COUNCIL MEMBER HERT, WOULD YOU LIKE TO VOTE ON A MACHINE? BOY? YES. ONLY WOULD IEM 97 THAT'S BEEN DELETED. WE MOVED COUNCIL MEMBERS. THE TIME NOW IS 6 28. UH, THE MEETING WILL END PROMPTLY AT EIGHT 15. SO I'M GONNA MOVE A LITTLE BIT FAST. PLEASE, UH, CALL MY NAME, UH, GIVE MY ATTENTION IF YOU NEED ME TO SLOW DOWN. [74. 23-00135] ITEM 74, CONSIDERATION OF IEP AND THE APPLICATION FOR GEORGIA PACIFIC PORTHOUSE AND LLC FOR A PROJECT LOCATED EASTBOUND PARISH REFERRED TO BY THE PARISH, BY THE BOARD OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY AS TAX EXEMPTION. APPLICATION NUMBER 2 2 21 1 10 FOR THE AMOUNT OF $108,327,627 BY COUNCIL. ADMINISTRATIVE TREASURER. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? JOSH COMBS. GOOD EVENING COUNCIL MEMBERS. UH, SO I, JOSH, WHY DON'T YOU INTRODUCE, HAVE YOU INTRODUCED YOURSELF TO THE COUNCIL BEFORE ALREADY? YES, I HAVE. OKAY. WELL, GO AHEAD. I HAVE, I HAVE, SO AGAIN, MY NAME'S JOSHUA COMBS. I'M HERE REPRESENTING BENON ROUGE AREA CHAMBER, AND I'M HERE IN SUPPORT OF ITEM NUMBER 74, WHICH IS THE I E P APPLICATION FOR [01:10:01] GEORGIA PACIFIC. UH, JUST SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION. GEORGIA PACIFIC HAS 150 OPERATIONS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, ONE BEING IN PORT HUDSON AND EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH. THAT FACILITY IS OVER 50 YEARS OLD, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, UH, THEY HAVE BEEN FACING SOME CHALLENGES IN THE PRODUCTS THAT THEY PRODUCE. THEY PRODUCE BARNEY PAPER TOWELS, AS WELL AS QUILTED NORTHERN TISSUE. AND WITH THOSE CHALLENGES, THEY HAVE HAD THE INABILITY TO SOURCE A REPAIR PLACEMENT, AVOID THEIR AGING PORTS. UH, THEY ALSO, THEY ALSO HAVE A, UM, A LACK OF ABILITY TO COMPETE BECAUSE THEIR, THEIR FACILITY IS SO OLD. SO THE PROPOSED IEP P APPLICATION IS A 100 MILLION INVESTMENT IN THAT FACILITY THAT WILL GO TO UPDATING AND AUTOMATING THE PLANT. RIGHT? AND SO WITH THAT, GENERALLY IN IEP P APPLICATIONS, IT IS AN ADDITIONAL JOBS, BUT THIS IS MORE GEARED TOWARD JOB RETENTION. AND SO THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE I A P APPLICATION, UH, GEORGE PACIFIC HAS COMMITTED TO AT LEAST MAINTAINING 250 JOBS. SO I AM IN SUPPORT OF THAT. UM, IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, UH, I'M HERE TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS. I ALSO SEND OUT A DOCUMENT TO EACH COUNCIL MEMBER TODAY, AND I ALSO HAVE COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES HERE AS WELL TO ALSO SPEAK TO IT. THANK YOU, JOSH. ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? COME ON DOWN. STATION. YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD? YES. THANK YOU. MY NAME IS DAVID LINDENFELD. I LIVE AT 47 59 NEWCOMB DRIVE IN BATON ROUGE. I'M A MEMBER OF TOGETHER BATON ROUGE, WHERE I CHAIR A COMMITTEE ON DEALING WITH TAXES AND TAX FAIRNESS. I SUSPECT OUR ORGANIZATION HAS DEVELOPED A REPUTATION OVER THE YEARS OF BEING OPPOSED TO IEPS. BUT LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT WE HAVE NO SUCH BLANKET POLICY. RATHER, WE SEEK TO EVALUATE EACH CASE ON ITS INDIVIDUAL MERITS. WE FIND THAT THE CURRENT APPLICATION FROM GEORGIA PACIFIC IS, IS A MIXED BAG. IT HAS SOME POSITIVE FEATURES AND, AND SOME NEGATIVE ONES. ON THE PLUS SIDE, WE COMMEND GEORGIA PACIFIC FOR COMMITTING TO MODERNIZE ITS PORT HUDSON PLAN, RATHER THAN OUTSOURCING OR SHUTTING DOWN AS IT DID WITH A PREVIOUS PLANT LAST YEAR. ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE, A COUPLE OF THINGS. ONE, UH, WE SEE FROM THE APPLICATION WHEN ASKED WHETHER EXISTING JOBS WILL BE RETAINED, THE BOX, UH, THE BOX SAYING NO IS THE ONE THAT IS CHECKED, BUT THERE ARE NO SPECIFICS ON HOW MANY JOBS WOULD BE LOST, AND WE'D LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON THAT. SECOND, THE EXEMPTION REPRESENTS A REVENUE LOSS TO THE PARISH OF $1,000,558 AND 84, EXCUSE ME, MY $1,558,804 ANNUALLY. THAT IS AT THIS 80% RATE THAT IS STIPULATED IN THE, UH, UH, RULES AND REGULATIONS OF, OF WHAT THE, UH, PROPERTY TAX IS, GIVEN THE FINANCIAL NEEDS OF THE PARISH, WHICH WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH, DRAINAGE, PUBLIC SAFETY, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. THIS IS NOT AN INSIGNIFICANT AMOUNT. COMPARE THIS TO GEORGIA PACIFIC'S NET PROFITS AFTER TAXES, ACCORDING TO ITS ANNUAL REPORT OF 2022 OF $41,373,000. SO FINALLY, LET'S LOOK AT THIS APPLICATION IN THE LIGHT OF THE CURRENT REGULAT REGULATIONS REGARDING IEP ELIGIBILITY. UH, HERE TOO, WE FIND A MIXED BAG. THE APPLICATION INCLUDES SOME ADDITIONS TO THE EXISTING PLANT, WHICH CLEARLY QUALIFY FOR AN EXEMPTION, BUT IT ALSO INCLUDES REPLACEMENTS OF EXISTING MACHINERY, WHICH DO NOT. SO IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE FAIR SOLUTION TO THIS, UH, IS FOR THE COUNCIL TO APPROVE SUB PORTION OF GEORGIA PACIFIC'S REQUEST, BUT NOT THE FULL AMOUNT OF 80%, WHICH, AFTER ALL IS A CAP. AND SO WE ACCORDINGLY WOULD URGE THE COUNCIL TO DEFER THIS ITEM AND TO WORK OUT AN AGREEMENT ALONG THESE LINES WITHIN THE, UH, 60 DAY WINDOW THAT, UH, THAT ARE CALLED FOR SUCH NEGOTIATIONS. THANK YOU. IS ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 74 WHEN I GOE TO COUNCIL MEMBER NOEL? YES. UM, I'M SORRY. SOMEBODY'S WISHING TO SPEAK. MY APOLOGIES, PLEASE. GREETINGS TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS. UH, MY NAME, HONOR, MS. GAYLE JOSEPH COUNCILMAN, THIS IS A FORMER COUNCILWOMAN. COULD YOU LET EVERYBODY KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT DISTRICT YOU REPRESENT? AH, IN THE NINETIES , I REPRESENTED DISTRICT THREE COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, AS A VOLUNTEER ADVOCATE IN TOGETHER BATON ROUGE AND TOGETHER LOUISIANA. UM, I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT WE WORKED VERY HARD [01:15:02] TO GET OUR LOCAL GOVERNING BODY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DECISION MAKING ON IEPS, AS WELL AS THE 80% VERSUS NOW, 20% DOES GO TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. AS YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN OVER 80 YEARS, UH, THAT THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN IN EFFECT. AND MANY LARGE, WELL-ESTABLISHED CORPORATIONS HAVE, UM, GOTTEN QUITE A FEW IEPS OVER THE YEARS. WE SUPPORT CORPORATIONS, WE SUPPORT BUSINESSES. UH, WE COMMEND, UH, OUR, UM, LOCAL COMMERCE, UH, TO REVIEW THESE, UM, PROJECTS AND BRING THEM TO BATON ROUGE AND BRING THEM TO LOUISIANA. BUT WE FEEL THAT THERE HAS BEEN INEQUITIES. WE WOULD LIKE FOR OUR LARGE CORPORATIONS WHO HAVE BEEN HERE FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, WHO HAVE GOTTEN MANY IEP BILLIONS, EXCUSE ME, BILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO CORPORATIONS OVER MANY, MANY YEARS. WE'RE ASKING THEM TO RESPECT THE LOCALITIES WHERE THEY ARE, TO RESPECT OUR LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES AND HOLD US AS EQUAL PARTNERS BY PAR PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE OF PROPERTY TAXES. THE 1.5 MILLION IS NOT GOING TO DECISIVELY MAKE THAT CORPORATION DECIDE WHETHER TO DO THIS PROJECT OR NOT. YET, THE NEEDS THAT WE HAVE IN EDUCATION, IN INFRASTRUCTURE, IN LAW ENFORCEMENT, THESE DOLLARS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR LOCALITIES. SO, IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING YOUR DECISIONS THAT WE SO FERVENTLY FOUGHT FOR, IN GIVING YOU THE, THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE, PLEASE THINK ABOUT THESE CONSIDERATIONS. I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION, AND I KNOW THAT YOU ARE REPRESENTING OUR INTEREST, THE CITIZENS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. DOES ANYONE ELSE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 74? ANYONE ELSE? COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE. THAT WAS BRANDON. I MEAN, EXCUSE ME, BRANDON, COUNCIL MEMBER? NO, . ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. UM, SO I WANTED TO ASK MR. COMBS IF HE COULD SPEAK REAL QUICK TO, UM, SOME OF WHAT WAS SAID ABOUT THE, UM, THE RETEN, THE JOB RETENTION ON THE APPLICATION. I, I DIDN'T KNOW. UM, IT KIND OF SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE SAYING WHILE THERE IS RETENTION, BUT MAYBE THERE'S NOT, IS THAT YEAH, SO THERE IS JOB RETENTION AND AS TO WHY IT WAS NOT CHECKED, THAT WAS JUST AN ERROR IN FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION. SO, SO IT IS, IT IS A RETENTION, YES. AND THAT'S THE, OKAY. AND SO JOBS WILL BE RETAINED. AND ALSO SPEAKING TO, UH, THE REPLACEMENT COMPONENT. SO PURSUANT TO THE RULES OF, UH, IEP, UH, IT'S NOT A REPLACEMENT. THIS IS A MODERNIZATION. AND IF IT'S OVER 50 MILLION IN INVESTMENT, THEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO AMEND OR REDUCE THE, UH, THE APPLICATION. AND I KNOW THE GENTLEMAN SPOKE TO MAYBE REDUCING THE AMOUNT, BUT IF THE THRESHOLD IS MET, WHICH IS OVER 50 MILLION, THEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT. AND AGAIN, IT'S NOT A REPLACEMENT. THESE PARTS THAT ARE AGED IN, THAT HAVE BEEN AGED OUT, WE CAN'T FIND REPLACEMENTS TO FIX THESE PARTS. THEY WON'T BE REPLACED, BUT THEY WILL, IN RETURN BE MODERNIZED. SO THAT IS A DISTINCTION THERE. OKAY. UM, I, I'LL TELL YOU, I KNOW, UH, QUITE A FEW PEOPLE WORK AT GEORGIA PACIFIC, AND, UM, AND THEY ARE A GOOD PARTNER, ESPECIALLY TO, TO THE COMMUNITY IN ZACHARY. UM, I DON'T KNOW, THE INDIRECT DOLLAR IS, UM, ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO OUR COMMUNITY. UH, BUT THEN THE DIRECT DOLLAR AS WELL, EVEN WITH THIS, I KNOW THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN APPROVED BY ZACHARY'S SCHOOL BOARD, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT GEORGIA PACIFIC, UH, COMPRISES, UH, I BELIEVE THAT LAST CALCULATION OF ABOUT 17% OF THE BUDGET FROM ZACHARY SCHOOL SYSTEM. SO IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL. UM, I, I KNOW IT'S BEEN SAID THAT MAYBE THEY, UM, THIS WON'T MAKE OR BREAK WHETHER OR NOT THEY DO THESE UPGRADES. I THINK THAT IS A VERY DANGEROUS, UM, GAMBLE BECAUSE THE PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE THAT ARE THERE ARE PART OF THE COMMUNITY. BUT OBVIOUSLY WITH A BIG CORPORATION LIKE THIS, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO, AND I'M NOT SAYING THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY, [01:20:01] BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, SHAREHOLDERS ARE, ARE WHAT THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT, AND SPREADSHEETS ARE WHAT THEY LOOK AT. AND WHEN, WHEN YOU CAN MOVE A FACILITY FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, UM, THERE IS A POTENTIAL THAT DOLLARS CAN BE SAVED. AND I WOULD LIKE THAT TO NOT EVEN BE PART OF A DISCUSSION FOR, UM, GEORGIA PACIFIC, BECAUSE IT IS TOO ESSENTIAL TO OUR AREA, TO OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM. UM, LIKE I SAID, I SEE THE IMPACT EVERY DAY BECAUSE I KNOW SO MANY OF THESE PEOPLE. UM, THE, THE INDIRECT DOLLAR FROM THE RETENTION OF THESE JOBS IS, UM, EXPONENTIAL. AND, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT GETS DISCUSSED OFTEN ENOUGH WHEN WE TALK ABOUT IEP, BUT, AND I, AND I KNOW, I KNOW IT DOES, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S, IF IT REALLY SINKS IN WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE INDIRECT DOLLAR, UM, THE IMPACTFULNESS, UM, HIGH PAYING JOBS, AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE EATING IN OUR RESTAURANTS. THEY'RE, UM, BUYING HOUSES IN OUR COMMUNITIES. THEIR KIDS GO TO OUR SCHOOLS. SO THEY SEE, THEY SEE THE BENEFIT OF IT. AND, AND CERTAINLY ME LOOKING IN, I SEE THE BENEFIT OF IT TOO. SO, UM, I WOULD, UH, I WOULD ASK THAT Y'ALL SUPPORT THIS. UM, I'LL MAKE A RECOMMENDATION FOR APPROVAL, UM, PROVIDED THAT, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF WE NEED TO HAVE A, UM, A CONDITION THAT WE, UM, MAKE SURE THAT THE CORRECTION IS MADE ON THE APPLICATION. UM, IF THAT'S APPROPRIATE. ASHLEY, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S FOR HOW LONG? FIVE YEARS. UM, I, I THINK THE ONLY APPROPRIATE MOTION HERE IS TO APPROVE OR NOT APPROVE AND AT WHATEVER, UM, PERCENTAGE OR, OR LEVEL. BUT, UM, I, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE, UM, DISCREPANCY WITH THE APPLICATION IS, TO BE FRANK WITH YOU. OKAY. I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE. MOTION TO APPROVE SETTING IT BY COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. COUNCIL MEMBER MO. SO THIS IS 1.9 MILLION A YEAR, 1.5, 1.9 MILLION TAX. UH, SO IT'LL BE ROUGHLY 2 MILLION, 2.2 MILLION A YEAR. OKAY. FOR HOW LONG? UH, TILL TWO 30, 2035. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. UM, NOW I, I KIND OF AGREE WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER NOEL SAID. I MEAN, REMEMBER WHEN GEORGIA PACIFIC HAD THEIR CLOSURE AND, AND HOW DETRIMENTAL THAT WAS? I'M NOT SAYING THEY'RE GONNA CLOSE DOWN OR WHERE THEY GET THIS OR NOT, WHETHER THEY WOULD CLOSED DOWN OR PACK, SHOP AND LEAVE OR, OR WHATEVER. BUT YOU KNOW, I, I LOOK AT SOME OF THESE COMPANIES THAT APPLY FOR IAP. THEY DO THE APPLICATIONS. THEY, THEY DO THEIR DUE DILIGENCE IN WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO AND REMAIN HERE, UM, UPDATE THEIR FACILITIES. THEY MADE A COMMITMENT TO, UH, MAINTAIN THE JOBS. UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK WAS IN THE EMAIL EARLIER, THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT ALL THE NEW EQUIPMENT BEING AUTOMATION, SO THEY WERE GONNA LET PEOPLE GO. UM, BUT I THINK WE, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, YOU YOU TALKED ABOUT A COMMITMENT TO MAINTAIN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF JOBS. AND, AND THAT'S THE AMOUNT OF NUMBERS THAT THEY HAVE NOW, SPECIFICALLY? NO, CURRENTLY THEY'RE OPERATING, THEY HAVE ROUGHLY 320 EMPLOYEES MM-HMM. . AND SO THAT 250 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, THAT'S JUST ANTICIPATED. BUT WHAT THEY'RE, WHERE THEY'RE SEEING THE MOST REDUCTION IN THEIR STAFF IS THROUGH AGENT ATTRITION. THEY JUST HAVE AN AGENT WORKFORCE. OKAY. AND THIS IS A TOTAL INVESTMENT THAT THEY'RE MAKING OF $108 MILLION, CORRECT? CORRECT. NOW, I, I BELIEVE THE GENTLEMAN A WHILE AGO SAID, YOU CHECKED THEIR, THEIR PROFITS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO COME UP, IT'S JUST YES OR NO. YOU CHECKED THEIR PROFIT SETTINGS FOR LAST YEAR, AND YOU SAID IT WAS 48.1 MILLION PROFIT LAST YEAR. 41 MILLION. 41 MILLION MILLION. NOT A B. OKAY. YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S VERY CONCERNING THERE. I I, I WAS REALLY THROWING BACK ABOUT THAT, THAT THEY ONLY MADE $41 MILLION AND THEY'RE MAKING $108 MILLION INVESTMENT IN EVERYTHING. SO I AGREE WITH COUNCILMAN NOLAN SUPPORTING THIS COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. UH, YE YES. UM, I DON'T KNOW IF HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE ACTUALLY, UM, DRIVEN DOWN, UM, SCENIC HIGHWAY WHERE GEORGIA PACIFIC IS, BUT THAT IS A CORRIDOR THAT, UM, REALLY HAD GONE DOWN, I GUESS DUE TO DIFFERENT INDUSTRY CHANGES AS IT RELATES TO OIL AND GAS. AND, UM, BUT IT'S RIGHT OFF THE MISSISSIPPI, IT'S AN EXCELLENT LOCATION. UM, ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT GEORGIA PACIFIC THAT YOU CAN'T SAY FROM A LOT OF THE COMPANIES IS THE FACT THAT THEY HIRE LOCALLY. UM, IT IS A COMPANY WHERE THERE'S A GREAT COMMUNITY, UM, COLLABORATION. CERTAINLY ZACHARY HAS PROBABLY, UM, BENEFITED TREMENDOUSLY, [01:25:01] BUT THEY ARE INTENTIONAL ABOUT REACHING OUT, UM, TO SCHOOLS IN, UH, PARTICULARLY IN NORTH BATON ROUGE AND AREAS WHERE SCHOOLS, UM, HAVE POPULATIONS WHICH ARE, ARE IMPOVERISHED AND IPO. AND SO I DEFINITELY WOULD SEE A HUGE LOSS IN GEORGIA PACIFIC. THEY'RE NOT ONE OF THOSE COMPANIES WHERE EVERY TIME YOU LOOK AROUND, THEY'RE ASKING FOR SOMETHING. UH, WE'VE HAD SOME COMPANIES WHERE THEY'VE ASKED FOR FOUR AND FIVE IAPS. THAT IS TRUE THAT, I'M NOT GONNA NAME 'EM THAT GEORGIA PACIFIC DID HAVE A PREVIOUS I A, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT, UM, AND THEN THEY HAD TO DO A LAYOFF, BUT IT WAS BASICALLY BECAUSE OF A TREND WHERE PEOPLE NO LONGER NEEDED AS MUCH OF THE DUPLICATING PAPER. UM, YOU KNOW, IT, IT, IT'S INTERESTING. I BASICALLY PUT AN, I PUT, UM, ANNOUNCEMENT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE TELLING NONPROFITS THEY CAN, THAT I'M DONATING, UM, DITTO PAPER THAT I GOT FROM GEORGIA PACIFIC OVER THE YEARS. SO THEY'VE BEEN, THEY WERE VERY GENEROUS. THEY'RE STILL GENEROUS, UM, AS IT RELATES TO THE COMMUNITY. UM, THEY HAVE A HISTORY OF, AGAIN, HIRING IN OUR COMMUNITY. THEY ARE IN A LOCATION ALONG THE, UM, IS THAT 61 BRANDON, 61 CORRIDOR, UM, BETWEEN, UM, ZACHARY AND SCOTLANDVILLE, THAT, AGAIN, IS NOW BEING ATTRACTED BY OTHER BUSINESSES. SO I TOO APPROVE, I MEAN, UM, SUPPORT THIS ITEM. AND, UM, I'M NOT ONE WHO THAT'S A FAN OF IEP, BUT THIS IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT. UM, AND I APPRECIATE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN GOOD STEWARDS OVER THE YEARS AND NOT JUST JUMPING UP, UM, WITH IAP APPLICATION JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN. COUNCILMAN MO. UH, UH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION, BRANDON, DOES THIS FALL IN YOUR DISTRICT OR SHAWN US. OKAY. UH, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE. OH, OKAY. I, I JUST, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE WHO, WHO WE HAD VOTING HERE. SO THERE'S, THERE'S A MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER NOAH, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS DURING OPPOSITION. ITEM 74 HAS BEEN APPROVED, AND I GO ITEM 75 [75. 23-00223] OF RE, YOU APPROVED ANNUAL PAYMENT AND LAW OF TAX, THE SHERIFF OF EAST BATON ROUGE, AND AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $500 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CAPITAL OF FINANCE AUTHORITY AND THE HOUSING PRESERVATION BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 75? COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN, SIR, UM, REAL QUICKLY, COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED ONE COMMENT IN OPPOSITION TO ITEM 75. ALL RIGHT, COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN. UM, HELLO, MY NAME'S OLIVER HAINES. UH, I WORK FOR, UH, HOUSING PRESERVATION INC. THE NONPROFIT THAT IS, UH, SET TO ACQUIRE, UM, FOR SUBSIDIZED COMMUNITIES, UH, IN COUNCILMAN DON TRIK. THIS IS MY COLLEAGUE, JONATHAN COLEMAN, WHO ALSO WORKS WITH ME, UH, AT HOUSING PRESERVATION INC. UH, WE APPRECIATE THE TIME THAT YOU'VE GIVEN US TONIGHT TO COME IN, TALK ABOUT OUR DEVELOPMENT. UM, THE, UH, THE PROPERTIES IN QUESTION ARE FOR, UH, COMMUNITIES THAT ARE LOCATED TOGETHER. UH, THEY MAKE UP A, A CAMPUS OF 262 APARTMENT UNITS, UH, DEDICATED TO SERVE LOW INCOME ELDERLY RESIDENTS, UM, IN, UH, THE BATON ROUGE COMMUNITY. UH, WE ARE, UH, OUR NONPROFITS UNDER CONTRACT TO ACQUIRE THESE, UH, UM, THESE FOUR COMMUNITIES AND TO PRESERVE THEIR LOW INCOME OR THEIR AFFORDABILITY FOR LOW INCOME RESIDENTS. UM, THE EACH OF THESE COMMUNITIES IS SUBSIDIZED THROUGH, UM, A, UH, THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING OVER DEVELOPMENT, UM, AND, UH, HAVE LONG-TERM, EITHER SECTION EIGHT HAVE CONTRACTS OR PROJECT RENTAL ASSISTANCE CONTRACTS, UH, PRAC FOR SHORT. UM, OUR, OUR NONPROFIT OPERATES IN, UH, A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STATES AROUND THE COUNTRY. UH, WE, WE, UH, OWN AND, AND MANAGE, UH, THOUSANDS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS. UM, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO, UH, TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, UM, WHAT THE, THE BUDGET. THESE, THESE COMMUNITIES ARE BUILT OFF OF, UM, OF BUDGETS THAT HAVE TO BE SUBMITTED ON AN ANNUAL BASIS TO, UM, TO HUD. UH, AND SO THEY ARE CONSTRAINED IN, UM, IN THEIR, THEIR FINANCES. AND, UH, CURRENTLY THEY, UH, THE PROPERTIES ARE NOT ON THE TAX ROLL. UM, AS PART OF OUR TRANSITION, UH, THERE IS, UH, UM, THEY COULD POTENTIALLY BE PUT ON THE TAX ROLES. AND SO WE ARE ASKING, UM, FOR THE, UH, FOR CAPITA GRANT, A PILOT, AND FOR THAT TO BE APPROVED HERE, UM, BY THE COUNCIL AS WELL. THANK YOU. SPEAK TO THE INVESTMENT THAT YOU GUYS ARE GONNA MAKE INTO THE PROPERTY. OH, UH, YEAH. THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION. SO, UM, WE, UH, AS A PART OF THIS, UM, AS A PART OF THIS, WE, WE ACTUALLY WENT TO THE PROPERTIES, UH, AND TOURED ALL 262 UNITS. WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO AND SHAKE HANDS WITH A NUMBER OF THE RESIDENTS. I THINK WE MET OVER 75% OF, OF THE RESIDENTS THAT, UH, [01:30:01] THAT LIVE THERE. UM, AND WE TALK TO 'EM ABOUT THEIR, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THEIR NEEDS, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY WOULD HOPE OUT OF, OUT OF THE IMPENDING TRANSACTION. UM, AND WE'VE DEVELOPED A SCOPE OF WORK OF TO INVEST OVER 3.1 MILLION, UH, IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS. UM, IN REDEVELOPING THESE, UH, THESE ASSETS AND PUTTING IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PIECES LIKE, LIKE, UH, LIKE GENERATORS FOR EACH OF THE, UM, EACH OF THE FOUR BUILDINGS, UH, ONE OF THE MAJOR CONCERNS THAT THEY HAD WAS HURRICANE DAMAGE AND HOW THAT AFFECTS THE, UM, THE INFRASTRUCTURE HERE AND THE POWER GRID. AND THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, OVER THE SEVERAL PRECEDING HURRICANES, UH, THEY'VE LOST POWER FOR A NUMBER OF DAYS, AND ESPECIALLY AS, AS SENIOR CITIZENS, THAT HAS A, A HIGH IMPACT ON THEM. UM, AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE COMMITTED TO DOING, UH, AND, AND BRINGING IN. UM, IT'S JUST AS A, AN EXAMPLE OF THE KIND OF DEVELOPMENT THAT WE'LL BE DOING AT THE SITES. THANK YOU. AS YOU GUYS KNOW, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO REPRESENT NORTH BATON ROUGE, JUST IT'S, IT HAS BEEN CHALLENGING TO GET SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT IN REDEVELOPMENT IN OUR COMMUNITY. SO I'M EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY. I, I STRONGLY SUPPORTED, AND I, I ASKED YOUR SUPPORT AS WELL. AND WITH THAT, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE. MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCILMAN MADONE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MORRA IN OPPOSITION. ITEM 75 HAS BEEN APPROVED. WE NOW ITEM 76, [76. 23-00133] RENTING OF FULL CONTRACT TRANSFER FOR FIVE YEAR PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT, ESTIMATED AT $234,853 AND 97 CENTS PER YEAR, FROM 3 33 COMMERCE LLC TO COMMERCE ON LAUREL LLC, LOCATED AT 3 33 LAUREL STREET IN BATON ROUGE, SEVEN, LOUISIANA 78 0 2. THE PURPOSE OF THE INCURRING PRIVATE INVESTMENT AND RESTORATION OF THE PROPERTY BY PLANNING DIRECTOR. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 76 WITHOUT COUNCIL MEMBERS? YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED ONE EMAIL COMMENT IN OPPOSITION TO ITEM 76. WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEM 76? SO MOVED BY THE CHAIR THERE. SECOND, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN. ITEM 76 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM 77 [77. 23-00136] ON COUNSELING AND RESCHEDULING A CERTAIN METROPOLITAN COUNSELING AND CALLING FOR A SPECIAL MEETING IN 2023. COUNSELING JULY 12TH, 2020 23. METROPOLITAN COUNSEL MEETING RESCHEDULING IN NEW NOVEMBER 22ND, 23 METROPOLITAN COUNSEL MEETING ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST, 2023, RESCHEDULING DECEMBER 20TH, 2023. METROPOLITAN COUNSELING IS ONLY MEETING TO DECEMBER 6TH, 2023. COUNSELING IS DECEMBER 27TH. METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING, CALLING FOR SPECIAL METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEETING ON DECEMBER 12TH, 2023. THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING THE 2023 CITY PARISH ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET AND CAPITAL BUDGET. AND ITEM RELATED TO THE 2024 BUDGET BY COUNCIL, ADMINISTRATOR AND TREASURERS. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 77? WE NOW WROTE TO COUNCIL, IS THERE A MOTION? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOK, ANY OPPOSITION? ITEM 77 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM 78, [78. 23-00122] AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENT ON BEHALF OF DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE SERVICES TO EXECUTE A RENEWAL CONTRACT WITH JUSTICE BENEFITS INCORPORATED TO ADMINISTER THE TITLE FOUR DASH E FEDERAL ROSTER CARE AND REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM AT THE RATE OF 12% OF REVENUE REIMBURSE BY THE CITY PARISH ELIGIBLE REIMBURSEMENT ACTIVITIES BY THE JUVENILE SERVICES DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 78? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKER. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER, GO THERE. ITEM 78 HAS BEEN APPROVED WITH NO OPPOSITION. WE'RE GONNA TAKE ITEM 79 THROUGH 84 TOGETHER. ITEM [Items 79 - 84] 79, AUTHORIZED MAYOR, PRESIDENT SU SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION EXCEPT THE GRANT AWARD ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR HAZARD MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $574,000 IN AUTHORIZED EXECUTION OF ALL DOCUMENTS AND CONNECTION THERE WITH TO IMPROVE THE DRAINAGE IN AND AROUND THE PLANK ROAD, BENTLEY DRIVE AREA BY HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR. ITEM 80, AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENT, SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION TO ACCEPT THE GRANT AWARD. THIS ISSUED ON FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY AND HAZARD THE MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM AND HURRICANE LOWERING THE AMOUNT OF UP TO $256,107 IN AUTHORIZED EXCUSE OF ALL DOCUMENTS AND CONNECTION THERE WITH TO IMPROVE THE ADVANTAGE AROUND OLD HERMITAGE PARKWAY AREA BY HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR. ITEM 81 AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENT TO SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION, ACCEPT THE GRANT AWARD ISSUED IN THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR HAZARD MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM. MAY, 2021 FLOODING IN THE AMOUNT OF $707,000 IN AUTHORIZED EXECUTION OF ALL DOCUMENTS AND CONNECTION THERE WITH TO EQUIP AND INSTALLED A PERMANENT GENERATOR FOR CITY OF BATON ROUGE HUMAN RESOURCES, THE BUILDING BY HOMELAND SECURITY AND PER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR, ITEM 82, AUTHORIZED MAYOR PRESENT TO SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION EXCEPT THE GRANT AWARD ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR HAZARD MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,013,050 IN AUTHORIZED EXECUTION OF ALL DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION THERE WITH TO IMPROVE THE DRAINAGE AND AROUND THE WASTE WESLEY AVENUE AREA BY HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR. ITEM 83, AUTHORIZED MAYOR PRESIDENT TO SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION, ACCEPT THE GRANT AWARD ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR HAZARD MITIGATION AND GRANT PROGRAM HURRICANE ID IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,630,596 50 CENTS, AN AUTHORIZED EXECUTION OF ALL DOCUMENTS AND CONNECTION THEY'RE [01:35:01] WITH TO IMPROVE THE DRAINAGE IN AROUND THE BEACHWOOD LATERAL CHANNEL AREA BY HOMELAND SECURITY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR. ITEM 84, AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENT, SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION TO ACCEPT THE GRANTED AWARD ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR HAZARD MITIGATION GRANT PROGRAM HURRICANE IDA AND AMOUNT OF $1,320,505 IN AUTHORIZED EXECUTION OF ALL DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION THERE WITH TO IMPROVE THE DRAINAGE IN AND AROUND THE AVENUE G AND AVENUE H AREA BY HOMELAND SECURITY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR, ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 79 THROUGH 84, WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL. SO MOVED BY COUNCILMAN MAK, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ITEM 79 THROUGH 84 HAVE BEEN APPROVED WITH NO OPPOSITION. ITEM [85. 23-00139] 85 AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR PRESENT TO ENTER INTO A TWO YEAR AGREEMENT WITH NEAR MAP US, INC. FOR SERVICES TO PROVIDE BIANNUAL AREA IMAGERY AND THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $191,329 IN REPEALING RESOLUTION 5 67 68 BY INFORMATION SERVICES DIRECTOR, ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON 85. WE'RE NOW GO THE COUNCIL MEMBER'S MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MADAY. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OPPOSITION? WE NOW WROTE TO ITEM [86. 23-00140] 86 MINUTE TITLE 11, CHAPTER 13, SECTION 11 1 40, OPERATING VEHICLE WHILE INTOXICATED. AS SUCH AT AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE RELATED TO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS BY PARISH ATTORNEY. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 86? WHEN NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS? IS THERE A MOTION? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER AMAROSA AND THE OPPOSITION WILL NOW GO TO ITEM [87. 23-00141] 87. COUNCIL MEMBERS, THERE'S A REQUEST OF THE FURTHEST ITEM, A AMEND TITLE 13, SECTION THIRTEEN TWO EIGHTY FIVE. IMPROPER TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION. SO AS TO ADD TEXT MESSAGING AND OTHER MESSAGING AS A FORM OF IMPROPER COMMUNICATION BY PARISH ATTORNEY. UH, THERE'S A REQUEST TO DEFER THIS ITEM. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM, BUT I'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. THERE'S A REQUEST TO DEFER. IS THERE A MOTION TO DEFER? FOR HOW LONG? FOR HOW LONG? UH, HOW MANY? TWO WEEKS. TWO WEEKS, 30 DAYS. MOTION TO DEFER FOR 30 DAYS BY COUNCILMAN MAY 2ND AND BY COUNCILMAN NO. ITEM 87 HAS BEEN DEFERRED WITH NO OPPOSITION. WE GO TO ITEM 88, [88. 23-00143] AMENDING TITLE 13, SECTION 13, CODE 67 MISDEMEANOR THEFTS TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF MISAPPROPRIATION FROM $750 TO $1,000 AND TO INCREASE THE FINE AMOUNT FROM $500 TO $1,000 BY THE PARISH ATTORNEY. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 88? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. THERE'S A MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OPPOSITION? WE NOW GO TO ITEM 89 [89. 23-00174] AUTHORIZING A SETTLEMENT IN THE MATTER ENTITLED MATTHEW TURK VERSUS AARON NICHOLS IN THE AMOUNT OF $166,500 PLUS COURT COSTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $329 FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $166,829 AND APPROPRIATING $166,829 FOR SUCH PURPOSE BY THE PARISH ATTORNEY. ANYONE HERE TO SPEAK ON ITEM 89? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROCK, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HERRS, ANY OPPOSITION TO GO TO ITEM 90, [90. 23-00178] AUTHORIZING A SETTLEMENT IN THE CLAIM OF DEJA LANDY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM A SEWER BACKUP IN THE CLAIMANT'S HOME FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF FIFTEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND EIGHTEEN CENTS BY THE PARISH ATTORNEYS. ANYONE HERE IN WISH YOU SPEAK ON 90? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL. IS THERE A MOTION? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MORK SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. IS THERE ANY OBJECTION? ITEM 90 HAS BEEN APPROVED 91 AUTHORIZING [91. 23-00184] A SETTLEMENT IN THE CLAIM OF CJ CUTTHROAT FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM A SEWER BACKUP IN THE CLAIMANT IS DUE PLACED FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $50,534 AND 31 CENTS BY PARISH ATTORNEYS. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM AT 91 WILL NOW GO TO COUNCIL. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKA. SECONDED BY THE CH COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN. IS THERE ANYONE SPEAKING OPPOSITION ITEM 91 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM 92 [92. 23-00189] AUTHORIZING AND SETTLEMENT OF THE CLAIMANT, STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY EDWARD AND CYNTHIA BUTLER FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM AN AUTO ACCIDENT CAUSED BY A BARRON POLICE OFFICER IN THE AMOUNT OF $55,574 AND 13 CENTS PAID TO STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, UH, FEDERAL EDWARD BUTLER AND BY THE PARISH ATTORNEY. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 92? UH, WE GO TO COUNCIL NOW. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MOROCCO, SECONDED BY THE COUNCIL MEMBER. HER IN THE OPPOSITION. WILL NOW GO TO ITEM [93. 23-00199] 93, AUTHORIZING A SETTLEMENT AND CLAIM OF LAKEISHA CHESTER FOR DAMAGE REZONING FROM AN AUTO ACCIDENT CAUSED BY THE PUBLIC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEE IN AN AMOUNT OF $14,252 5 CENTS BY PARISH ATTORNEY. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 93? WE NOT GO TO COUNCIL. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN. ITEM 93 HAS BEEN APPROVED WITH NO OPPOSITION. WE'RE NOW GO ITEM [94. 23-00202] 94. WE'RE SITTING IN THE RECORD TO CLERK RECORD THE COUNCIL DECISION TO ORDER RECORD ON OCTOBER 31ST, 2022 IN THE MATTER OF CITY OF BATON ROUGE VERSUS TIMOTHY PAUL MCCOY, 40 18 CHIPPEWA STREET. REASON FOR RESCISSION PROPERTY IS BEING RENOVATED BY THE OWNER, BY THE CHAIR. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 94? MOTION TO APPROVE BY THE CHAIR. IS [01:40:01] THERE SECOND? SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM. ITEM 94 HAS BEEN APPROVED WITH NO OPPOSITION. ITEM 95 [95. 23-00208] RESIN AND DIRECTING THE CLERK RECORD TO COUNSEL DECISION ORDER RECORD ON NOVEMBER 14TH, 2022. THE MATTER OF CITY OF BATON ROUGE VERSUS JANE WILLIAMS, 1636 NORTH 17TH STREET, REASON FOR RESCISSION PROPERTY HAS BEEN SOLD AND THE NEW OWNER WISHING TO APPLY FOR A PERMIT TO REPAIR BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 95? MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN SECONDED BY THE CHAIR ANY OPPOSITION? 90 95 HAS BEEN APPROVED. 96 AUTHORIZED [96. 23-00204] IN THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO SUBMIT A REQUEST TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION ON WHETHER A MEMBER OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MAY BE APPOINTED BY THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL, SERVE ON THE LIBRARY BOARD OF CONTROL OR TO THE BATTERY'S RECREATION AND PARK COMMISSIONER ANY OTHER CITY PARISH BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. AND IF NOT, WOULD AMENDMENT SPECIFYING THE APPOINTMENT OF THE STATE LAW IN ORDER TO PLAN A GOVERNMENT CREATING THIS BOARD. RESOLVE THIS CONFLICT BY COUNCIL MEMBER HER. IS THERE ANYONE HERE TO SPEAK ON ITEM 96 WHEN I'LL GO TO COUNCIL. COUNCIL ASHLEY. COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED TWO EMAIL COMMENTS AND OPPOSITION TO ITEM 96. COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN. ANDY, THERE'S SOME TALK THAT, UH, BRETT HAS AN OPINION ON THIS MATTER ALREADY. UH, ARE YOU AWARE OF THAT OPINION? AND, AND DOES IT APPLY TO US IN THIS SITUATION? UH, COREY PROVIDED ME, WHO IS THE, UH, THE, UH, BRETT'S, UH, EXECUTIVE, UH, DIRECTOR AND, AND HEAD OF BRECK PROVIDED ME THE INFORMATION TONIGHT, JUST AS EVENING WHILE WE'RE IN THE COUNCIL MEETING, I FORWARDED TO DON GEED IN MY OFFICE, UH, WHO HAS TAKING A LEAD ON THIS. SHE'S HADN'T HAD THE FULL OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT NOW, BUT HER INITIAL LOOK, UH, AT THE, AT THE INFORMATION, UH, SHOWS THAT THERE MAY BE SOME, UH, DIFFERENCES IN OUR JURISDICTION AS COMPARED TO THE ONES THAT WERE IN THE AGS OPINION. WHAT I WOULD ASK OF EACH OF YOU IS TO APPROVE THIS MATTER, GIVING US THE ABILITY TO GO TO THE AG TO GET AN OPINION. IF AFTER WE REVIEW IT, WE SEE THAT WE NEED TO AFTER REVIEW IT, WE MAY SEE THAT WE DON'T NEED TO, BUT WE DON'T WANNA HAVE TO COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL AND DELAY THIS ANY FURTHER. SO, AGAIN, WE'D ASK THAT YOU PLEASE APPROVE THIS MATTER, GIVING US THE AUTHORITY TO GO TO THE AG IF WE NEED TO AS WE CONTINUE TO REVIEW THE INFORMATION THAT'S BEEN PROVIDED TO US. THANK YOU, COUNCIL. I'M GONNA GO THERE. THANK YOU. I GOT A NUMBER OF EMAILS THIS EVENING ON THIS ITEM ASKING, AND FRANKLY, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CONCERNS EXPRESSED. SO MAYBE GIVEN WHAT, UM, AND ANDY'S OFFICE HAS RECEIVED AND, AND SOME CORRESPONDENCE THAT CAME TO US TONIGHT EXPRESSING OPPOSITION BEGIN, I, I I'M NOT FULLY UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY WHY. UH, MAYBE A REQUEST TO DEFER THIS ITEM FOR TWO WEEKS AND THEN TAKE IT UP AGAIN. MM-HMM. , IS THAT A MOTION? UM, I'LL, I'LL OFFER IT AS A FRIENDLY, BUT I, I'LL, I'LL WAIT FOR FEEDBACK FOR MY COLLEAGUE WHO SPONSORED IT. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. SO I'M NOT SURE WHAT WAS RECEIVED, BUT I KNOW, UM, THAT I ONCE APPLIED FOR BR AND, UM, THEIR ATTORNEY FOSTER ACTUALLY SENT AN AGENDA. I, I MEAN, SENT ON AN ITEM WHERE IT WAS AGAINST IN THE STA IN THE STATE STATUTE. THAT BRICK SPECIFICALLY INDICATED THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS COULD NOT BE A PART OF THEIR BOARD. UM, I TRIED TO DO A SEARCH AND I GUESS I DELETED ALL OF THAT, BUT IT WASN'T JUST AN OPINION OR ANYTHING, IT WAS LITERALLY PART OF THEIR STATUTE. SO, UM, FOR ME, I WOULD PREFER A 30 DAY DEFERRAL JUST SO THAT WE COULD ALSO DETERMINE THOSE KIND OF THINGS BECAUSE, UM, IT'S ONE THING TO NOT HAVE AN OPINION, OR IT MAY BE JUST PART OF SOMETHING THAT THIS COUNCIL, UH, INDICATED. BUT THERE ARE, BUT PARTICULARLY IF I RECALL, IT WAS PART OF BRICK'S STATUE, UH, IN THE LEGISLATURE. NOW, UM, MY, MY, MY OPINION REGARDING, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS SERVING ON EXTERNAL BOARDS AS A DESIGNATED, UH, POSITION STILL STANDS. I KNOW WE HAVE SOME WHERE THEY, THAT THEY EXIST AND, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN CHANGING IT, BUT, UM, I DO BELIEVE THAT EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER CAN APPLY FOR ANY BOARD. THEY'RE SPECIFICALLY SAID THAT THEY CANNOT APPLY. NOW, WHETHER OR NOT THEY CAN APPLY, WHETHER OR NOT THAT MEANS, UM, SIR PRINCE AND COUNCILMAN HURST, IF HE WANTED TO BE ON THE BRICK BOARD AND HE JUST OFFERS HIS NAME UP, BUT NOT IN A DESIGNATED COUNCIL POSITION. I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO GET A CLARIFICATION ON THAT. UM, YOU KNOW, SO, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD, WELL WHERE WE'VE HAD DESIGNATIONS WHERE COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE APPOINTED AND THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A POSITION THAT'S A COUNCIL APPOINTED. BUT, BUT THERE ARE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT HAVE [01:45:01] SERVED ON THAT SAME BOARD. UH, I THINK MOST RECENTLY, UM, IT WAS DONNA COLLINS LEWIS SERVED ON THE CATS BOARD, AND THEN, UM, THE GUY WITH THE, WITH THE CAJUN, WITH THE, UH, CONCRETE RYAN HECK SERVED ON THE CAT'S BOARD AS JUST, YOU KNOW, A, A, A REGULAR, UH, PERSON, YOU KNOW, JUST A CITIZEN. SO I THINK IT, YOU KNOW, IT DOES BEAR MORE THAN JUST AN A AN ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION JUST SPECIFICALLY ON THIS. KIND OF LIKE WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE DISTANCE FOR 93. WE NEED IT, IT IS SEVERAL SCENARIOS THAT, UH, WE SHOULDN'T LIMIT IT TO JUST THIS CONVERSATION, BUT WHETHER OR NOT SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY HAS THE COUNCILMAN'S STATUS, BUT THERE'S NOT AN APPOINTMENT. AND, UM, JUST SOME CONVERSATION AMONGST OURSELF KIND OF ON, UM, WHETHER OR NOT WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, BE ON ALL BOARDS, SOME BOARDS, INTERNAL BOARDS, EXTERNAL BOARD. IT'S JUST A LOT. AND I THINK CLEANING UP, UM, THOSE DECISIONS, THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO DO THAT. SO THAT'S MY DEAL. I, I DON'T KNOW IF WE ARE AT THE PLACE WHERE THE AMENDMENT FOR A 30 DAY DEFERRAL STOOD, BUT IF SO, I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, SUPPORT THAT AND SECOND IT AT ITS TIME YOU'LL BE MAKING THE INITIAL MOTION. SO IS THAT A MOTION? NO. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER FIRST. SO LET ME EXPLAIN MY THOUGHT PROCESS BEHIND THIS. SO I, I WORK WITH COREY AND HIS STAFF AND, AND, UM, UH, UH, MS. MCKNIGHT BEFORE SHE LEFT, BECAUSE I SAW BRETT AS THE GRAY AREA THAT COULD MERGE BOTH SIDES OF FLORIDA BOULEVARD. I SAW SPORTS AS A TOOL THAT ENSURED THAT KIDS WHO, WHO ARE OF INFLUENCE AND KIDS WHO WERE UNDERSERVED COULD BE IN THE SAME GYM AND NOT SEE ANY DISPARITIES. AND SO MY PRESENTATION, WHICH WAS AWARDED TO ME FOR ONE YEAR, WHICH I DECLINED FROM BRETT, TO CREATE A VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE IN NORTH BATON ROUGE, SO THAT YOUNG GIRLS THAT LOOK LIKE MY DAUGHTER WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO DO BECAUSE EVERYTHING UP THAT BASEBALL IS $2,500 A SEASON, PLUS $2,500 TRAIN TRAINING, VOLLEYBALL IS ABOUT THE SAME. SO THEY PRICED OUT THE UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES FROM BEING ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SOME OF THESE OPPORTUNITIES. SO THE GOOD THING ABOUT VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL IS YOU NEED LIGHTS, A GYM AND ONE BALL TO PARTICIPATE. SO I, I WAS GIVEN AN AWARD TO CREATE A VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE IN NORTH BATON ROUGE AND TO TAKEOVER BREX BASKETBALL LEAGUE, JUST LIKE B RSC WAS THERE. AND THE REASON WHY I WANTED TO DO THAT IS BECAUSE GUESS WHAT? YOU MIGHT HAVE FIVE PEOPLE AT A PTA MEETING, BUT ON SATURDAY MORNING YOU GOT 5,000 IN THE GYM, CHEERING LITTLE JOHNNY ON. SO WHILE I CAN'T GET HIS MOM TO FOCUS ON HIS ACADEMICS, I CAN'T GET HER TO SAY, HEY, SHOOT ANOTHER SHOT. SO HOW DO WE LEVERAGE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LITTLEJOHN HIS MOM TO ENSURE THAT WE MERGE SCHOLASTICS AND UM, AND RECREATION IN SAYING THAT THIS KID WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IF HE HAD LOWER GRADES AND DIDN'T GO TO A TUTORING SESSION. NOW, I'M NOT GONNA STOP YOU FROM HAVING LOW GRADES AND PLAYING AND DOING WHAT YOU'RE GOOD AT, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU PUT EFFORT TO MAKE THOSE GRADES BETTER. SO ALL OF THIS WAS IN MY PRESENTATION. Y'ALL KNOW, RECREATION IS A CORE OF MY HEART, SERVING THE KIDS IN THE COMMUNITY, WHICH IS WHY I'M HERE FOR REPRESENTING YOU TODAY. IT STARTED OFF COACHING BASKETBALL TO RUNNING A PROGRAM WITH 160 KIDS TO CREATING PROGRAMS FOR 4,000 KIDS IN OUR COMMUNITY. SO THAT'S WHERE MY PASSION WILL CHANGE OUR COMMUNITY CAME FROM. SO THAT'S WHERE I SEE BRETT GOING IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION WHERE I, I'VE BROUGHT THIS UP A NUMBER OF TIMES AND I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYBODY ON THE BRICK BOARD, NO OFFENSE TO EVERYBODY HAS DIFFERENT MISSIONS IN LIFE, RIGHT? I TELL EVERYBODY, I THINK COUNCILWOMAN GREEN WAS AMAZING, BUT GOD GAVE HER A DIFFERENT VISION FOR THE DISTRICT, A DIFFERENT VISION FOR STREET NAMING AND STUFF THAT HE DIDN'T GIVE ME FOR. SO EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT DOING IT ANYMORE, IT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS NOT IMPORTANT. JUST IT IS NOT THE PRIORITY FOR ME. AND SO HAVING A COUNCIL MEMBER ON THAT BOARD AND REPRESENTING US THERE IN TERMS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS AND OTHER THINGS, UH, THAT GO INTO IT, IT GIVES US A VOICE TO WHAT OUR COMMUNITIES NEED AND NEED, NEED IN TERMS OF RECREATION AND HAVING A SAY NO DIFFERENT THAN WE DO AT CHANCE ROUTES, RIGHT? IT'S NO DIFFERENT THAN PUTTING BUS STOPS THERE. IT'S THE SAME THING. WHAT ROUTES SERVE OUR CITY BEST? WHAT RECREATION SERVES OUR CITY BEST? AND COREY HAS DONE A GREAT JOB, DONE AN AMAZING JOB, WON AWARDS FOR DOING THIS. SO IT'S NOT THE SLIGHT CHORD BY ANY MEANS, BUT IT'S SAYING WE, WE, WE CAN'T STOP AT GREAT. WE HAVE TO GET AMA WE HAVE TO COME AMAZING, RIGHT? AND, AND WHEN WE GET TO AMAZING, WE GOTTA FIND ANOTHER WORD AND TO CONTINUE TO MOVE THAT NEEDLE FORWARD AS IT RELATES [01:50:01] TO THE LIBRARY BOARD, WHICH IS ON THE SAME AGENDA ITEM. UM, AND I MAY WANT MY SECOND FIVE MINUTES CUZ IT'S IMPORTANT, BUT WE HAVE A 52 MILLION SURPLUS, YET WE HAVE ONE OF THE LOWEST LITERACY RATES. SOMEBODY ON THAT BOARD DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE SAME COMMUNITIES I CARE ABOUT EITHER THAT IF THEY DON'T HAVE THE VOICE OR THE INGENUITY, WHATEVER IT MAY BE, THE THOUGHT PROCESS TO DETERMINE HOW TO CLOSE THEIR LITERACY RATE. BECAUSE IF THEY'RE NOT COMING TO THE LIBRARY, BRING THE LIBRARIES TO 'EM, CREATE COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING, EXPAND THE BOOK MOBILES, FIND CONSISTENT PROGRAMMING IN COMMUNITIES WHERE KIDS LOOK FORWARD TO IT. CAUSE YOU HAVE DRUG ADDICTED PARENTS, YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE VEHICLES. PEOPLE'S LAST MEAL WAS AT THE SCHOOL AND THEY'RE TAKING HOME A BROWN BAG EVERY DAY. SO I SEE THE LIBRARY BOARD, I SEE THE BREADBOARD A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU SEE IT AS. I SEE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE OUR COMMUNITY BECAUSE PEOPLE BUILD PRISON CELLS BASED ON LITERACY RATES. AND IF WE'RE NOT A PART OF THAT CHANGE AGENT, IF WE'RE NOT HELPING TO DIRECT THOSE FUNDS TO WHETHER THEY SHOULD, WHERE, WHERE THEY SHOULD GO, WHICH IS A TAXABLE BODY THAT WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR AS COUNCIL MEMBERS. WE'VE ALL GOTTEN QUESTIONS ABOUT BRICK OF OTHER LIBRARY AND OUR EMAILS THAT WE HAVE NO GOVERNANCE OVER, RIGHT? OTHER THAN THE IMPORTANCE OF MEMBER TO A BOARD. SO PUTTING A COUNCIL MEMBER THERE JUST GIVES US, GIVES US THAT ADDITIONAL VOICE. NO DIFFERENT THAN CATS, NO DIFFERENT THAN MOVE BATON ROUGE. AND, UH, AS AARON MAKES HIS COMMENT ABOUT WHATEVER BOARD HE DOESN'T WANT, HE'S ON THE BOARD AS WELL. UM, OKAY, WELL I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALL RIGHT. BUT MY POINT IS SAYING THAT IS IT'S ABOUT IMPROVING BATON ROUGE AS A WHOLE AND TO ADDRESS COUNCILWOMAN CHINA BANKS WHO HAS MADE A COMMENT AND LEFT. UM, IT'S ABOUT DOING AN AG OPINION AND WHAT THE AG OPINION IS. UH, IT'S OKAY. JUST ANOTHER FIVE. THANK YOU. GOD BLESS. AND THE AG OPINION TALKS ABOUT DUAL OFFICE HOLDING AND AS A PART-TIME ELECTED OFFICIAL. UH, AND AS A PART-TIME, UM, PERSON ON THAT BOARD, THERE IS NO CONFLICT. WE'VE ALREADY LOOKED AT THE AG HAS A WRITTEN OPINION ON THAT, BUT WE'RE GOING FOR A FINAL OPINION BECAUSE WE'RE NOT FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE FOR THE CITY OF BAT ROUGE. SO THE AG ALREADY HAS A CHART THAT YOU CAN LOOK AT TO DETERMINE IF IT'S CONSIDERED DUAL OFFICE HOLDING AND FOUR, THE LIBRARY BOARD. AND FOR BRETT, IT IS NOT CONSIDERED DUAL OFFICE HOLDING. WE ARE JUST GETTING A, GETTING A FINAL OPINION FOR ONE LITTLE PIECE OF IT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING, NO DIFFERENT WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE OTHER STUDIES. SO, UM, THAT'S MY 10 CENTS, UH, FIVE MINUTES AND, UH, 37, 8, 9 SECONDS. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER MOK . YEAH, I, I, LOOK, I'VE STATED THIS BEFORE AND, AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, NO DISRESPECT TO COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN, NO DISRESPECT, UM, TO, UH, COUNCILWOMAN BANKS. I, I DON'T THINK, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TWO SEPARATE OPINIONS FROM COUNCIL BY SERVING ON ALL THESE BOARDS. UM, SHE, SHE MAKE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE ONE COUNCIL MEMBER THAT MAKES ONE OPINION ON PLANNING AND ZONING AND THEN COMES RIGHT BACK TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER. SAID THE SAME THING. I SAID IT EARLIER. UM, NO DISRESPECT TO COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN, BUT YOU KNOW, HERE WE ARE CREATING THESE COMMITTEES THAT IS GOING AFTER THE CATCH BOARD. AND I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING AFTER MY OWN COUNCIL MEMBER WHEN WE HAVE TO DO STUFF. AND, AND I KNOW SHE MAY NOT SEE IT THAT WAY OR WHATEVER. SAME WITH WITH, WITH THE LIBRARY. WE'RE GONNA GET DOWN INTO TAX ISSUES THAT COME UP EVERY SO MANY YEARS. UH, BRETT, AS FAR AS ANY ISSUES THAT COME UP WITH CERTAIN THINGS IN THE AREA, WHO'S GOING TO GET WHAT IN THEIR DISTRICT? WHO'S GONNA WORK WITH WHATEVER I, I KNOW THAT I CAN GO TO, UH, COREY AT ANY POINT, SIT DOWN WITH HIM AND SAY, HEY, THIS IS MY DISTRICT. I WOULD LIKE SOMETHING. I DON'T HAVE TO BE ON THE BOARD TO TRY AND MAKE CHANGE OR GET SOMETHING IN MY AREA. SO ALSO ONCE WE START WITH THESE, UM, PARKS, COMMISSION LIBRARY, IF NOT, I THINK IT SAID APPOINTMENT TO OTHER, UH, BOARDS TO RESOLVE ANY CONFLICTS OR WHATEVER. BUT I, I, THAT'S JUST MY OPINION WITH US AS COUNCIL MEMBERS SERVING ON THESE BOARDS, WE, WE HAVE OUR DUE DILIGENCE TO DO WHEN THEY COME FOR FUNDING, WHEN THEY COME TO DO PROJECTS, WE HAVE OUR INPUT. IF WE GET PUBLIC PUSHBACK FROM WHAT THEY FEEL, MAYBE THEIR LIBRARY OR REC OR CATS OR ANYBODY OTHER, UH, COMMISSION IS HAVING A PROBLEM, THEN THERE ARE POINTS THAT WE CAN STEP IN. WE CAN OVERSEE AND, AND, AND DO OUR DUE DILIGENCE IN MAKING SURE THAT THE TAXPAYER'S DOLLARS ARE BEING, UM, WELL SPENT AND CORRECTLY SPENT IN DIFFERENT ROUTES. PLUS THE APPOINTMENTS THAT WE DO TO THE BOARD. WE LOOK AT THESE APPLICATIONS, OR WE'RE SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT THESE APPLICATIONS AND APPOINT PEOPLE THAT, THAT WE FEEL WOULD REPRESENT EITHER OUR DISTRICT OR US AS A COUNCIL ON THESE BOARDS. SO I DON'T THINK PUTTING US ON EVERY BOARD AND COMMISSION IS, IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. THAT'S JUST MY [01:55:01] OPINION. AND I MAKE A SECONDARY MOTION TO DELETE THIS ITEM. THERE IS NO MOTION AT ALL. SO IS THAT YOUR MOTION? I MAKE A MOTION TO DELETE THIS ITEM. MOTION TO DELETE BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOK. IS THERE A SECOND FOR THE, THE MOTION ITEM? FAIL MOTION FAILS AS A RESULT OF LACK OF A SECOND REGARD TO COUNCIL MEMBER NOEL. UH, ANDY, IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND, UH, WHILE ANDY'S COMING UP, I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THE EMAILS WE'VE BEEN GETTING AND SOME OF THE OPPOSITION WE'VE SEEN FROM THIS AND, AND OTHER ITEMS THAT HAVE COME UP BEFORE US. UM, I I HOLD TRUE. UH, I THINK I I TEND TO BELIEVE, I DON'T DISAGREE WITH YOUR PASSION, DARRELL, ON, ON SOME OF THESE THINGS AND, AND EVERYTHING YOU SAID I THINK IS, UM, ON POINT. I DON'T KNOW IF IT OUTWEIGHS FOR ME THE POTENTIAL FOR POLITICIZING SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT BE POLITICIZED. SO I DON'T DISAGREE THAT YES, BY BEING ON IT, YOU COULD HAVE A BETTER VOICE TO AFFECT THE CHANGE THAT YOU WANT TO SEE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THAT OUTWEIGHS THE POTENTIAL FOR POLITICIZING A NON-POLITICAL BODY. UM, ANDY, I WAS JUST CURIOUS. NOW I DON'T MIND ASKING THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FOR AN OPINION BECAUSE WHAT I JUST STATED WAS MY OPINION AND IT MIGHT NOT BE SHARED BY ALL OF YOU. SO I DON'T MIND GETTING THE LEGAL OPINION FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. UM, ANDY, WHAT I WOULD ASK YOU SPECIFICALLY WHEN IT TALKS ABOUT THIS, AND SOMEBODY MIGHT HAVE TOUCHED ON IT A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, UM, IT SAYS WHETHER A MEMBER OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MAY BE APPOINTED BY THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL TO SERVE ON THESE BOARDS. MY QUESTION IS, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY OR ARE WE TALKING ABOUT SPECIFICALLY ALLOCATING A COUNCIL DESIGNATED POSITION ON THAT BOARD COUNCIL? YOU HAVE TO ASK COUNCILMAN HURST ABOUT THIS. THIS IS HIS MEASURE, BUT IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING FROM MY INTERPRETATION, IT IS APPOINTING A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL TO THAT PARTICULAR BOARD. BUT AGAIN, IT'S COUNCIL MEMBER HEARS. SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS, WHAT THE GIST OF IT WAS. THAT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING OF IT. OKAY. SO, CUZ I THINK THAT'S, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE THERE. IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IF I JUST PUT MY NAME IN AND THEY VOTE ON ME TO BE ON IT, THAT'S ONE THING VERSUS HEY, WE NOW HAVE A, THIS CAN ONLY BE A COUNCIL PERSON. THIS IS A DESIGNATED POSITION. WHO DO YOU ALL CHOOSE AMONG YOURSELVES? DARRYL, HOW DID YOU ENVISION THAT BEING ASKED? GO AHEAD. SO, UM, SO THERE STILL HAS A DUAL OFFICE HOLDING ISSUE THAT HE WOULD'VE TO RESOLVE THROUGH THE AGS OPINION EITHER WAY. SO I DID TRY TO PUT MY NAME UP WHEN I INITIALLY GOT ON HERE TO SIT ON A BRICK BOARD. BLESS. AND I WAS TOLD I WAS DENIED. GOD BLESS YOU. PLEASE SANITIZE YOUR HANDS. UM, I WAS TOLD THAT I WAS DENIED TO, UH, BECAUSE, BECAUSE THE STATUTE DID NOT ALLOW FOR IT, BUT WE NEVER LOOKED UP IF IT WAS DUE. AL WE PROBABLY COULD HAVE AT THAT POINT IN TIME TOO, AND GOT AN EIGHTIES OPINION TO SEE IF I COULD FOLLOW AS A REGULAR CITIZEN BECAUSE, UM, THERE WAS NO CONFLICTS ON THAT. RIGHT. AND, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT, AM I SAYING THAT CORRECTLY ANDY? IF I CAN DO IT AS A CITIZEN VERSUS A COUNCIL MEMBER? NO, I THINK, I DON'T WANNA GET TOO FARFIELD WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS, AND WHAT YOU TOLD ME IS YOU SITTING, ANY ONE OF Y'ALL SITTING THIS MEMBER HERE PUTTING ON A, UH, INITIATIVE OR PUTTING IN A VOTE FOR ONE OF THE OTHER TO SIT ON ONE OF THESE BOARDS OF COMMISSION AS A POSITION. THAT IS CORRECT. BUT MY QUESTION, WHICH IS WHAT THEY'RE ASKING, WHICH IS WHAT I TRIED TO DO BEFORE AND I WAS TOLD BY ASHLEY CORRECT, THAT I COULD NOT DO IT, UM, THAT A COUNCIL MEMBER COULD NOT SIT ON BRETT'S BOARD BECAUSE THE, AND BY THE WAY, SCHOOL BOARD DOES SIT ON THE BRICK BOARD. THERE'S AN APPOINTEE FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD WRITTEN IN TOO THAT, AND IT'S SO FUNNY HOW THE SAME PEOPLE WHO SIT ON OTHER BOARDS THAT RAISED THEIR HAND AND SAID, VOTE FOR ME TO SIT ON THE BOARD AND MIGHT EVEN SAY IT TONIGHT, OR AGAINST OTHER PEOPLE SITTING ON OTHER BOARDS. BUT, UM, ANYWAY, MY POINT OF SAYING ALL OF THAT IS MY REQUEST WAS TO HAVE ME SIT ON THE BOARD AS AN INDIVIDUAL. I WAS DENIED BECAUSE IT'S NOT WRITTEN INTO THE STATE LEGISLATURE. IF YOU WANT TO ANSWER THAT, ASHLEY, YOU WELCOME TO. YEAH, I I I I'M GONNA PLEASE CORRECT ME, BUT IT WAS NEVER SAID, LOOK AT HIM AS A CITIZEN, CUZ THAT WOULD'VE GONE OVER AS WELL. I DON'T THINK IT MATTERS WHETHER YOU APPLY AS A CITIZEN OR, OR THERE'S A DESIGNATED SPOT FOR A COUNCIL MEMBER BECAUSE THE FACT IS THAT YOU ARE A COUNCIL MEMBER. SO IF IT'S A SPOT DESIGNATED FOR A COUNCIL MEMBER OR IF IT IS YOU JUST APPLYING AND, AND THE COUNCIL DOESN'T PUT YOU UP FOR IT, I I DON'T THINK THAT DISTINCTION MATTERS. THE ISSUE WITH BR AND SOME OTHER BOARDS IS GOING TO BE WHETHER IF THAT VIOLATES THE INCOMPATIBLE OFFICE PROVISIONS OF STATE ETHICS LAWS. THAT'S RIGHT. AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE TRYING TO BE, AND STATE STATUTE SUPER, SUPER CAREFUL WITH, WITH STATE LAW. WE DON'T WANT ANY OF Y'ALL TO GET IN A POSITION WHERE YOU ARE APPOINTED TO A BOARD COMMISSION AND THEN SOMEONE LATER COMES IN [02:00:01] AND MAKES A FINDING THAT YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE ETHICS CODE, UM, BECAUSE IT'S AN INCOMPATIBLE OFFICE. AND, AND THOSE DISTINCTIONS ARE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF DETAILED AND, AND NUANCED. UM, SO, SO THAT'S WHY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION WE FEEL LIKE IS THE RIGHT WAY. WELL I WISH I AND THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT, NINE MONTHS AGO. CAUSE WE'VE HAD AN OPINION DONE BY NOW AND WHEN THE POSITIONS BECAME AVAILABLE, I WOULD'VE BEEN ABLE TO PUT MY NAME IN THE HAT AND GONE AS A REGULAR CITIZEN. SO, AND THAT'S HOW THIS ALL CAME ABOUT. WE, YOU KNOW, WE WORK WITH ASSET, WE CAME THROUGH LOOKING AT ALL THE STATE STATUTES AND FOUND SOME INCOMPATIBLE LANGUAGE THAT WE COULD NOT RESOLVE. AND THAT'S HOW WE GOT TO THIS POINT TO WHERE WE THOUGHT WE NEEDED THIS OPINION. AGAIN, WE'VE BEEN PROVIDED SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLY TONIGHT THAT WE HAVEN'T THOROUGHLY REVIEWED, BUT, UH, WE WILL TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW THAT AND DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO. I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THE COUNCIL UNDERSTANDS UNTIL THAT'S RESOLVED THEN, YOU KNOW, UH, NOT THAT YOU WOULD, BUT THIS ISSUE CANNOT BE PUT TO THE FOREFRONT IN ANY WAY, WOULD ANYONE BEING PUT IN THAT POSITION UNTIL WE GET IT RESOLVED. SO I HAVE ALONG THE COUNCIL DECIDES TO DEFER IT IS, OF COURSE, IT'S ALWAYS UP TO THE COUNCIL. MM-HMM. , BUT JUST BE WEY OF THAT. WHAT TIME THAT WAS COUNCILMAN NO'S TIME. TIME. CAN I MOTION TO APPROVE COUNCILMAN? NO, THAT'S YOUR, THAT'S YOUR TIME. MM-HMM. , UH, COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. UH, YEAH, I, I, FIRST OF ALL, AS I INDICATED, I DON'T HAVE A BLANKET, UM, THOUGHT THAT NO COUNCIL MEMBER SHOULD SERVE ON ANY BOARD. I'VE BEEN VERY SPECIFIC TO SAY THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT EXTERNAL VERSUS INTERNAL AND WHERE THERE ARE PROVISIONS WHERE, UM, ON EXTERNAL BOARDS, WHERE THERE'S A COUNCIL DESIGNATED THING THAT I, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT I'M INTERESTED IN CHANGING . BUT WHAT I AM SAYING, AND THIS IS NOT ABOUT, UM, AND I, I, AND I'M, I'M, I KNOW ABOUT THE BREAK BOARD BECAUSE I APPLIED. SO IT'S NOT LIKE I HAVE THIS ISSUE AGAINST IT, BUT I WOULD, IT IS THEIR STATUE, WHICH MAY NOT BE ON THE COUNCIL, UM, ON AGING. IT MAY NOT BE ON THE LIBRARY, BUT IT IS PART OF THE STATUE OF BRICK. AND I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA CHECK THIS OUT, OTHERWISE, UH, AND IT SAYS COUNCIL MEMBER, IT'S NOT, IT DOESN'T SAY DESIGNATION, IT DOESN'T SAY COUNCIL MEMBER CITIZEN FOR THE, IN THAT CASE, I AGREE WITH ASHLEY THAT IF YOU HOLD THE POSITION OF A COUNCIL MEMBER, THEY, IN GENERAL, THE BR BOARD, THE BRAGG BOARD, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT EVERY OTHER BOARD IS SAYING YOU CANNOT SERVE. HOWEVER, AS I BROUGHT THERE WITH KAZ, KATZ HAS A DESIGNATION, BUT THERE'S NOTHING IN THEIR STATUE, UM, AS A SUB, UM, WHAT THEY CALL IT, A SUBSIDIARIES AGENCY OR WHATEVER THAT SAYS THAT A COUNCIL MEMBER, ANOTHER COUNCIL MEMBER CAN SERVE. SO THAT'S WHY I'M THINKING THAT 30 OR WHATEVER, JUST SO WE COULD GO THROUGH EACH ONE OF THOSE, UH, AND CLEAN IT UP BECAUSE ALL SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE WISDOM FOR BRICK WAS, UH, AND IT DID NOT FAREWELL FOR ME. UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S ALL IT IS. IT'S NOT PERSONAL. IT IS NOT BLANKET FOR ME, IT'S JUST I SEE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO LOOK AT OUR INTERNAL BOARDS. I DO BELIEVE, UM, SOMEONE SHOULD SERVE ON THE ARCHITECT BOARD, UM, FROM THE COUNCIL, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CONTROL AS A COUNCIL. I SEE THE COUNCIL POSITIONS AS LIAISON POSITIONS BETWEEN THE AGENT, THE, THE COMMISSION, OR THE AGENCY AND THE COUNCIL. AND, UM, WHEN WE REALIZE THAT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU RUN EVERYTHING OR THAT YOU, AGAIN, OVER POLITICIZE OR TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR POSITION, BUT THAT IT IS, THAT BASICALLY YOU ARE REPORTING BACK TO THE COUNCIL ON THOSE ISSUES ON WHATEVER THE ISSUES ARE. YOU ARE SOMEWHAT OF A, UM, AN EXPERT BECAUSE YOU ARE IN THE THING. SO IF WE COME TO YOU AND SAY, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH WHATEVER THE BOARD IS, YOU ARE THE EXPERT IN THE ROOM. BUT OTHER THAN THAT, IT SHOULD NOT BE ANYTHING EXTRA THAT YOU GAIN AS A RE AS A RESULT OF BEING ON THE DIFFERENT BOARDS. I, I'LL JUST SAY A COUPLE OF THINGS. IF, IF I CAN, UH, NUMBER ONE, UH, I THINK THAT THIS MATTER WOULD TAKE IN CONSIDERATION THAT BIG BROAD CONCEPT OF WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF THIS OPINION. AND I THINK THAT WE WILL, AND I, I APPRECIATE YOU SAYING THAT. I THINK THAT WE WILL TAKE A LOOK AT ALL OF THE STATUTES, BUT THE QUESTION BECOMES, IF WE, DO WE STILL FIND THAT THERE'S A PERPLEXING THING THAT DOESN'T, UH, THAT'S INCOMPATIBLE OR DOESN'T WORK, THEN WE'RE AT A STANDSTILL UNTIL WE GET THE AGS OPINION. AND SO THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S THE THING THAT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND SO THAT WITHOUT THAT INFORMATION, BECAUSE WHEN YOU, LIKE FOR INSTANCE, WE'VE SPECIFICALLY SAID OTHER WHERE THE AG IS NOT AN EXPERT ON, I MEAN ON THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, EVERY [02:05:01] BOARDING COMMISSION. SO FOR ME, I THINK WE NEED TO AT LEAST BE ABLE TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE TO GIVE THE AG DEPARTMENT SOME SP SOME SPECIFICITY. MY MAMA USED TO LOVE TO SAY THAT WORD, SOME SPEC SPECIFICITY AS IT RELATES TO WHAT WE ARE ASKING. NO, AND I AGREE WITH YOU, BUT, AND I THINK WE WILL GET THAT. I'M NOT DISAGREEING WITH YOU, COUNSEL. WHAT I'M TELLING YOU IS THAT I DON'T THINK YOU'RE SAYING ANYTHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE WERE GONNA DO ANYWAY. OKAY. IT'S THE POINT I'M MAKING. YES, MA'AM. OKAY, THANKS. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, COUNCIL MEMBER, WE HAVE, UH, MEETING STARTED AT FOUR 20. SO WE HAVE EXACTLY ONE HOUR LEFT IN A MEETING WITH 52 ITEMS LEFT ON THE AGENDA. SO WE'LL NEED TO MOVE, UH, COUNCILMAN MOORE. OKAY. I, I'LL JUST SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE AS FAR AS MY FIRST TERM AS COUNCIL MEMBER WITH THE CITY OF CENTRAL, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM A HOME RULE CHARTER VERSUS A LARSON ACT OR, OR WHATEVER, BUT WE GOT ALL THE OPINIONS AND EVERYTHING. I SERVED ON THE CITY COUNCIL AND THEN I SERVED ON THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS FOR RIGHT OUTTA A YEAR. MY COUNCIL MEMBERS PUT ME ON THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS, UM, FOR THE CITY OF CENTRAL ONE YEAR, ONE MONTH IN, I WAS TOLD, GET OFF THE BOARD, YOU CANNOT SERVE AS DUAL OFFICE HOLDING. NOW THE CITY OF CENTRAL'S COUNCIL APPOINTS THE WHOLE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT, JUST LIKE WE DO WITH LIBRARY, JUST LIKE WE DO WITH, UM, UH, CATS, JUST LIKE WE DO. WE, AND NOW, I DON'T KNOW, AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A BOARDING COMMISSION THAT THE WHOLE COUNCIL, THAT THE, THAT THE COUNCIL APPOINTS AS A WHOLE, EVERY SINGLE MEMBER ON A BOARDING COMMISSION. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S JUST BOARDING COMMISSIONS THAT WE ONLY HAVE A SELECT DESIGNATION AS FAR AS HOW MANY PEOPLE WE CAN PUT ON AND MAYBE OTHER OFFICIALS PUT OTHER PEOPLE ON. I'M JUST GIVING Y'ALL THE EXPERIENCE AS FAR AS WHAT WE WENT THROUGH AND WHAT I WAS TOLD THAT I, IT WAS A DUAL OFFICE HOLDING BY BEING ON THERE. ALSO, ANOTHER THING THAT WE WERE TOLD AT THE TIME WAS THE COUNCIL MEMBERS CANNOT BE CHAIRS OF THESE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES, UM, THAT, THAT WE MAKE FOR CERTAIN THINGS. SO JUST LETTING Y'ALL KNOW, UM, WHERE, WHERE IT IS AND THAT, THAT A LOT OF THAT LEADS INTO MY WHOLE THING WOULD BE IT ON BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT WE FULLY APPOINT AND HAVE CONTROL OVER. WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE POLITICIZING IT. WE'RE WE'RE, I I AGREE WITH COUNCILMEN. NO, WE'RE POLITICIZING IT AND WE'RE, WE'RE ALREADY DOING OUR JOB AS COUNCIL MEMBERS BY APPOINTING PEOPLE THAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO TRUST AND REPRESENT TO BRING US INFORMATION. AND IF WE'RE SITTING, SITTING ON THAT BOARD AND YOU SAY SOMETHING CONTRARY TO WHATEVER, WHO'S TO SAY THAT SOME OF THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS MIGHT NOT GO, OH, THAT'S A COUNCIL MEMBER OVER THERE. YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT, IT JUST, IT, IT DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT. AND, AND AGAIN, UM, JUST LIKE WITH THE PLAN AND ZONING COUNCILWOMAN BANKS, I, I, I HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING YOUR TIME WITH IT. I JUST FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TWO VOTES ON A SITUATION THAT'S GONNA COME BEFORE US. A LOT OF THINGS THAT, THAT HAVE THAT, UM, UNDERSTAND. I WISH THEY WOULD RESPECT ME AS A COUNCILWOMAN COUNCIL NUMBER. I'M FINISHED. THANK Y'ALL VERY MUCH. COUNCIL MEMBER HEAR. SO I THINK THIS APPLIES TO THE AIRPORT BOARD. IT APPLIES TO THE LIBRARY BOARD, IT APPLIES TO COUNCIL ON AGENT. IT APPLIES TO VISIT BATON ROUGE. IT APPLIES TO WHATEVER SPORTS ONE G IS ON. IT APPLIES TO EVERY, UH, BOARD THAT WE HAVE THAT ALL OF Y'ALL SIT ON IS THE SAME THING. AND ALL HE'S ASKING FROM AN AG OPINION IS ABOUT DUAL OFFICE HOLDING IN GENERAL. NOW, IT ALSO DEPENDS ON HOW THE STATUTE IS WRITTEN AT THE STATE OF THE LOCAL LEVEL TO DETERMINE THAT IF A COUNCIL MEMBER IS ALLOWED OR DENIED. SO IT'S A WHOLE BUNCH THAT GOES INTO THAT. BUT THE LIBRARY IS, WILL BE DECIDED BY THE COUNCIL. REC WILL BE DECIDED BY STATE LEGISLATURE BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE IT WAS WRITTEN. IT'S, IT WAS WRITTEN AT THE STATE LEVEL, UM, IF THE AG OPINION COMES BACK. SO IT'S NOT ALL HE'S DOING IS GETTING AN OPINION AND OPINION ABOUT DUE OFFICE HOLDING. AND AARON, IT WAS WRITTEN THAT SOMEBODY COULDN'T BE THE CHAIRPERSON, BUT THAT MIGHT NOT BE HOW THESE ARE WRITTEN. SO, I MEAN, IT JUST DEPENDS ON HOW THESE ARE DESIGNED. SO ALL I'M GONNA DO IS MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE AN AG OPINION, WHICH IS ALL WE'RE ASKING FOR IS AN AG OPINION. Y'ALL STILL GOTTA VOTE IF IT EVER COMES BACK AROUND. SO MY MOTION IS TO APPROVE THIS ITEM. THANK YOU. THERE IS A, A MOTION TO APPROVE IN A SECOND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKET MOTION TO APPROVE. AND A SECOND. ANY OPPOSITION APPROVE? I DON'T, YEAH, I MEAN, THAT'S NOT REALLY AN AMENDMENT, BUT I MEAN, YOU COULD ADD, I MEAN, I'M SORRY, I APOLOGIZE. IT'S AN AMENDMENT IF YOU WANT IT TO BE AN AMENDMENT, BUT, BUT I'M LETTING Y'ALL KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT JUST GONNA AUTOMATICALLY JUST GO THERE. WE'RE GONNA REVIEW THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED THIS EVENING, SIR? YES, SIR. YES, SIR. YES SIR. YEAH. SO THE, THE MOTION IS TO APPROVE AND, AND IS GONNA WAIT TO FIND OUT IF [02:10:01] IT'S NEEDED BEFORE HE GOES TO THE AG WITH OUR APPROVAL. IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION TO THE MOTION? NO, MA'AM. NO MA'AM. ITEM 97 HAS BEEN APPROVED. 96 HAS BEEN APPROVED. 97 WE, WE NOW 98 [98. 23-00163] AMENDED 2023 PAY PLAN FOR THE CLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED, NON-CLASSIFIED CONTRACT FIRING POLICE EMPLOYEES IN CITY OF BATON PARISH, EAST BATON ROUGE ADOPTED ORDINANCE NUMBER 180 717. SO HAS TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING CHANCE IS EFFECTIVE. FEBRUARY 25TH, 2023 AT CHIEF OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, MUNICIPAL FIRE CLASSIFICATION, PAY GRADE 7 0 80 50 1002 92,963 BY FIRE CHIEF AND HUMAN RESOURCE DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 98 WHEN I GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER'S? MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOK. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN AND THE OPPOSITION. WE GO TO 99. [99. 23-00164] AMEND THE 2023 ALLOTMENT OF POSITIONS FOR THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE PARIS OF EAST BATON ROUGE, ADOPTED BY THE ORDINANCE NUMBER 180 7 18. SO HAS TO CHANGE THE ALLOTMENT OF FIRE DEPARTMENT AS FOLLOWS, CHIEF INFOR, CHIEF OF INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY AND DELETE NUMBER ONE, FIREFIGHTER JOB CODE 7 0 5 BY FIRE CHIEF OF HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 99? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOE. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MORAK, NO OPPOSITION. WE'RE GO TO COUNT. ITEM [100. 23-00167] 100, AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO AMEND THE SENIOR CITIZEN AID PROGRAM, WHICH ALLOWS SENIORS TO CONTRACT WITH THE CITY PARISH DEPARTMENTS AND PERFORM ASSIGNED DUTIES IN THE CITY PARISH SYSTEM BY REMOVING THE REQUIREMENT THAT SENIOR CITIZEN A PROVIDE A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE PRIOR EMPLOYEE OR SUPERVISOR BY COUNCIL MEMBER DARRY HURST. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 100? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HURST. THERE A SECOND. THERE'S NO SECOND. SECONDARY BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUS. UH, AND ANY OPPOSITION ITEM 100 HAS BEEN APPROVED. WE GO TO ITEM 1 0 1, [101. 23-00169] AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT UNDER NUMBER SIX WITH FOSTER AND FOSTER INCORPORATED SO AS TO INCREASE THE CONTRACT BY 14,250 SERVICES NECESSARY TO CALCULATE THE PERCENTAGE OF AMOUNT LIABILITY IN CURED COMP, COMPENSATED ABSENCE IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIRED DISCLOSURES UNDER THE G A S P STATEMENT BY FINANCE DIRECTOR. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 1? WHEN NOW GO TO COUNCIL. SOME MOVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER. GO. THEY SECONDED BY THE CHAIR. ITEM 1 0 1 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ANY OPPOSITION ITEM 1 0 2 [102. 23-00170] AUTHORIZED AMER PRESENT TO AMEND THE CONTRACT WITH MAXIMUM CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR INDIRECT COST ALLOCATION SERVICES, UH, FOR BY, EXCUSE ME, SERVICES FOR THE THREE 35,800 FOR A TOTAL CONTRACT AND MILE NOT TO EXCEED 99,500 BY THE FINANCE DIRECTOR. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 2? ANY COUNCIL? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER. GO. THEY SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OPPOSITION? WE GO TO ITEM 1 0 3. [103. 23-00173] AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE THE CONTRACT WITH THE PROVIDENCE ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP, LLC TO PERFORM COMPLIANCE SCREENING REPRESENTATIVE WET WEATHER, MAJOR OUTFALL SAMPLING AND REPORTING IN ACCORDANCE WITH A MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM PERMIT REQUIREMENTS FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $95,900 BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 3? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL. MOTION TO APPROVE BY ITEM SECOND IN BY GOK ANY OPPOSITION. ITEM 1 0 4, [104. 23-00175] AUTHORIZED MAYOR PRESIDENT TO ACTUALLY CONTRACT WITH PROVIDENCE ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL RUB LLC FOR PARLEY COMPLIANCE SAMPLING ON THE MAJOR OUTFALLS AND THE WATERSHEDS WITH A TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD ON IMPAIRMENTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM PERMIT REQUIREMENTS FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $59,750 BY ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTOR, ANYONE HERE IS TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 4. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOE, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN ADAMS AND IN OPPOSITION, WE GO TO 1 0 5 AUTHORIZING [105. 23-00176] AM MAYOR, PRESIDENT, AND ROSCO TO EXCUSED AMENDMENT NUMBER THREE WITH THE GRADY CRAWFORD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FOR CONSTRUCTION SERVICE AND CONNECTION WITH DANIEL PARISH BY WASTE FLORIDA COLLECTION SYSTEM EMERGENCY REPAIRS PROJECT PRESENTING IN AN INCREASED CONTRACT OF TWO MILLION FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY THREE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED SIX THOUSAND THIRTY NINE CENTS BY ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTED. HAS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 5? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEM 1 0 5? MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON. SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ITEM 1 0 5 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM 1 0 6. [106. 23-00190] THERE'S A REQUEST TO DEFER THIS ITEM AMENDED 2023 ALLOTMENT OF POSITIONS FOR THE CITY PARISH IN THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE AS TO CHANGE THE ALLOTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR PRESENT TO HAVE ONE ASSISTANT CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER AND APPROPRIATE 178,320 HOURS PER SET PURPOSE BY THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCE DIRECTOR. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 6. THERE IS A MOTION TO DEFER THIS ITEM FOR TWO WEEKS. COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED ONE EMAIL COMMENT OPPOSED TO ITEM 1 0 6. WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. THERE A MOTION TO DEFER OR MOVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER MO TO MARCH 8TH. SECOND [02:15:01] BY THE CHAIR AND THE OPPOSITION ITEM HAS BEEN DEFERRED. WE GO TO 1 0 7 [107. 23-00192] AUTHORIZING THE PARIS ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO ACQUIRE PREPURCHASE EXCHANGE DONATION OF INSTITUTION OF APPROPRIATION PROCEEDINGS AND TAKE SUCH OTHER ACTIONS THAT MAY BE REQUIRED IN CONNECTION WITH THE ACQUISITION OF LAND NECESSARY FOR THE CORPORATION OF CANAL IN EAST TIMES THE STREET TRASH CAPTURE PILOT PROJECT BY ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 1? EXCUSE ME. 1 0 7. COUNCIL WISH THE PLEASURE OF THE COUNCIL. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MO ITEM ONE ZERO. COUNCILMAN MO. I GUESS THIS MAY A QUESTION FOR FRED, BUT WHAT IS THE, UM, AUTHORIZED PARISH, UH, SORRY PARISH ATTORNEY, UH, ACQUIRED THROUGH PURCHASE EXCHANGE DONATION AND OR INSTITUTION OF EX APPROPRIATION? UM, I KNOW WHAT EX APPROPRIATION IS, BUT IS THAT LANGUAGE THAT HAS TO BE IN, ARE WE PRE AUTHORIZING EX-PRO EX APPROPRIATION IF IT'S NEEDED THAT THAT'S WOULD BE THE STEPS TO DO IT? YES, SIR. CAUSE IF WE DON'T GET AN AGREEMENT, THEN WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO, UH, EX PREPARATION SO IT DOESN'T HAVE TO COME BEFORE US AGAIN TO DO EX APPROPRIATION. WE'RE, WE'RE PRE AUTHORIZING THE USE OF EX APPROPRIATION RIGHT NOW. IT, IT'S, NO, IT IS STANDARD LANGUAGE WE NORMALLY HAVE, BUT I KNOW YOU, WHEN WE DO ON THE MOVIE R PROGRAM, WE COME BACK AND ASK FOR A SPECIAL AUTHORIZATION FOR RIGHT. FOR EX CORPORATION HERE. IT'S, IT'S PRETTY MUCH STANDARD. YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. SO MOVED. SO MOVE. THERE'S MOTION TO APPROVE. WHO, WHO MADE THE MOTION TO APPROVE ADAM? SECONDED BY MOG. ITEM 1 0 7 HAS BEEN APPROVED WITH NO OPPOSITION. WE GO TO ITEM 1 0 8 [108. 23-00193] AMENDED 2023. ALLOW OPPOSITION OF THE CITY OF PARIS, PARIS OF EACH OF BATON ROUGE OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH ADOPTED ORDINANCE NUMBER 180 718. SO AS TO CHANGE ALLOTMENTS OF THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICES WORK FOR INNOVATION OPPORTUNITY ACT PROGRAM IN THE MAYOR PRESIDENT WORKFORCE INNOVATION OPPORTUNITY ACT PROGRAM AS FOLLOW DELETE NUMBER ONE, PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR, W I O A ONE ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATE. TWO ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALISTS. ONE BUILDING ATTENDANT. 19 CAREER DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST. TWO. CAREER DEVELOPMENT SUPERVISOR. THREE. CONTENT AREA SPECIALISTS. ONE DATA COORDINATOR. SIX INTAKE SPECIALISTS. ONE. PROGRAM PLANNING ANALYST. THREE. SENIOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST. ONE SENIOR FISCAL SPECIALIST. ONE. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR. W I O A ONE ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATE. TWO ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIALIST. OUR JOB CODE, EXCUSE ME. ONE. BUILDING ATTENDANT. 19. CAREER DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST. TWO. CAREER DEVELOPMENT SUPERVISOR. THREE. CONTENT AREA SPECIALIST. ONE. DATA COORDINATOR. SIX. INTAKE SPECIALIST. ONE. PROGRAM PLANNING ANALYST. THREE. SENIOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT. ONE. SENIOR FISCAL SPECIALIST BY CHIEF WWL ADMINISTRATOR AND HUMAN RESOURCE DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 8? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL. MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, GOK. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER UH, ADAMS. WE NOW GO TO ITEM 1 0 9 [109. 23-00194] AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR PRESIDENT TO AMEND A CERTAIN CONTRACT, PROFESSIONAL LEGAL SERVICES WITH REVEREND DIAMOND PC FOR THE LEGAL REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY PARISH CONCERNING CLAIM UNDER CLEAN WATER ACT TO INCREASE THE LIABLE COMPENSATION TO A SUM, NOT EXCEED 1,350,000 AND APPROPRIATE 1,100,000 FOR SET PURPOSE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE AND OFFICE OF THE PARISH ATTORNEYS. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 0 9? ASHLEY COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED ONE EMAIL COMMENT IN OPPOSITION TO ITEM 1 0 9. WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON. ITEM 1 0 9 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ANY OPPOSITION? NO. WE'RE GOING TO ITEM ONE 10. [110. 23-00195] AUTHORIZED AM MAYOR PRESENT EXECUTED SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT NUMBER 14 FOR ENGINEERING DURING CONSTRUCTION SERVICES WITH EVAN GRAVES, ENGINEERS INCORPORATED FOR SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH MOBILE CAPACITY PROJECT MAR LOUISIANA BOULEVARD AND THE MOUNTAIN TO EXCEED $579,121 BY TRANSPORTATION DRAIN DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 10. WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. THERE ARE SECONDS BY COUNCIL MEMBER GOK. ANY OPPOSITION? ITEM ONE 10 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM ONE 11 [111. 23-00198] AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR P ASK YOU TO SUPPLEMENT. I READ MY PHONE. ENGINEERING SERVICES OF MY ENGINEERS LTD FOR SERVICE ASSOCIATED WITH MOBILE CAPACITY PROJECT JUSTIN HIGHWAY AT THE BLUE BARN BOULEVARD AND THE AMOUNT NOW TO EXCEED $2,997 50 CENTS BY TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 11? WE'RE NOT WITH THE COUNCIL. THERE A MOTION? SOME MOVE. HUH? MADE A SPEAK. COUNCIL NUMBER DONE. FRED, IS THIS THIS NUMBER CORRECT? $2,900? YES, SIR. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. MOTION TO APPROVE. YEAH. SO MORE BY COUNCIL NUMBER. I NEVER SEEN ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR 2009. . WELL IT'S A VERY SMALL PROJECT AT THE INTERSECTION. THAT'S WHY. OKAY, SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER. DONE SECONDARY BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ANY OPPOSITION? ITEM ONE 11 HAS BEEN APPROVED. MAY HAVE SAY IT AGAIN. CAN WE TAKE 1 12, 1 18 AND ONE 19 [02:20:01] TOGETHER. ALL RYAN, ALL RYAN WHITE FUNDING. I'M, WE CANNOT, I'M BEING TOLD. ITEM ONE 12, [112. 23-00200] AUTHORIZED MAYOR PRESENT TO ACCEPT FUNDING FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, HEALTH RESOURCE AND SERVICE ADMINISTRATION ON BEHALF OF DIVISION OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR THE RYAN WHITE HIV AND AIDS PROGRAM, WHICH INCLUDES RYAN WHITE ENDING HIV EPIDEMIC FUNDING IN AN AMOUNT OF TWO $205,800 BY THE, FOR THE GRANT PERIOD OF MARCH 1ST, 23 3 BY THE HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES DIRECTOR. IS ANYONE HERE TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 12? SO IS THERE A MOTION COUNCILMAN MO? YEAH, I MEAN I'LL MAKE THE MOTION TO PROVE, BUT I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT IF FINANCE COULD COME UP. AYE? YES. YEAH. EVERYBODY ELSE GOT A CHANCE? YOU MIGHT LOOK THEM ON UP. LINDA. I KNOW RIGHT? FOUR. SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA GET AWAY WITH IT. SHE THOUGHT SHE WENT, SHE WASN'T GONNA HAVE TO COME UP ALL DAY. SO I'LL DIRECT THIS AT ONE 12, BUT IT APPLIES TO A COUPLE OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE COMING UP LATER. THESE ARE JUST ACCEPTING FUNDING FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. ARE THEY ASSIGNED TO SPECIFIC GROUPS OR ORGANIZATIONS? WE HAVE TO ACCEPT THESE FUNDINGS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, CORRECT? CORRECT. THE RYAN WHITE, WHETHER, WHATEVER DIVISION, WHATEVER IT IS. BUT THESE ARE JUST THREE OF 'EM THAT WE KNOW IS OUT THERE OR THAT WE'VE BEEN APPROVED TO RECEIVE. AND THEN WHAT DO WE DO ONCE WE RECEIVE THIS MONEY? WE PICK AN ORGANIZATION THAT IT GOES TO AND THEN THAT COMES BACK BEFORE US LATER. YES. SO WHAT HAPPENS IS WE GET A GRANT, RIGHT? THAT THAT IS FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE AND THEN IF ANY THE CONTRACTS, THE GRANT, THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE EXECUTION, THE GRANT AGREEMENTS COME BEFORE YOU AND ALSO THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTS COME BEFORE YOU. OKAY. BETTER. SO, BUT THESE ARE NOT, THESE ARE NOT, UM, APPLIED TO SPECIFIC JOBS COMPANIES OR, OR ORGANIZATIONS IN BATON ROUGE. WE'RE GONNA TAKE THIS FUNDING FROM THIS ONE 12, A COUPLE OTHER ITEMS DOWN THE LIST, THIS FUNDING THAT WE'RE GETTING AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO GO OVER APPLICATIONS OR WHATEVER AND ASSIGN THAT MONEY TO DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS LATER. , I THINK, LET'S SEE, WE'RE OKAY, THIS ONE WE'RE ACCEPTING THE FUNDING. CORRECT? WHICH INCLUDES, IT LOOKS LIKE ALL OF 'EM ARE JUST ACCEPTING THE FUNDING. YES, BECAUSE USUALLY THERE'S A SPECIFIC GROUP LIKE, UH, OPEN HEALTH, A, UH, A H F, SOME KIND OF ORGANIZATION OR WHATEVER THAT'S EX THAT WE'RE GIVING THE MONEY OUT TO. THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE WE'RE JUST ACCEPTING THE GRANT THE WAY THIS IS WRITTEN. COUNCIL COUNCILMAN. OKAY. SO WOULD IT MEAN THAT IT'S THE SPECIFIC AMOUNTS IN THESE GRANT? DIFFERENT ONES? MM-HMM. . UM, DO WE KNOW IF THEY'RE ASSIGNED YET OR FOR A SPECIFIC USE? YOU WOULD HAVE TO ASK THE D THE DIRECTOR OF DH DS OR THE, THE ADMINISTERING DEPARTMENT IF THEY HAVE IN MIND WHAT THEY'RE ASSIGNED. THIS, THIS, I DON'T THINK THAT THIS ASSIGNS THAT FOR A SPECIFIC YEAR. ARE THEY HERE? YES. . HEY. HI. HOW ARE ARE THESE? LET'S, WE HAVE TO FOCUS ON ONE 12, SO, OKAY. BUT YOU KNOW WHERE I'M GOING WITH SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS FURTHER DOWN THE LIST. ARE THESE ASSIGNED YET? TWO SPECIFIC ITEMS. THESE ARE EXISTING CONTRACTS. SUBRECIPIENTS THAT WE ALREADY ARE SERVINGS AND SO THIS MONEY IS ALREADY EARMARKED UP. SUB RECIPIENTS THAT ALREADY BEEN APPROVED, PERIOD. BUT WHENEVER RECEIVE MONEY WE DO HAVE TO PUT OUT A RFP AND THE PUBLIC HAS TO RESPOND. IT IS THROUGH THEIR PROCESS THEN THAT THE CONTRACTS ARE AWARDED. WE DON'T GIVE TO ANYBODY WITHOUT GOING THROUGH A RFP PROCESS. WE ARE REQUIRED BY FEDERAL REG REGULATIONS TO DO THAT. OKAY. WHEN WE APPLY TO RECEIVE THESE FUNDS, DO WE ALREADY KNOW WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO WHEN WE APPLY TO RECEIVE THESE RYAN WHITE FUNDS? IT DEPENDS. OR DO WE JUST BULK APPLY FOR ANYTHING THAT'S AVAILABLE AND WHATEVER WE GET THEN WE ASSIGN IT OUT? NO, WE DON'T APPLY FOR ANYTHING THAT'S AVAILABLE, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE APPLY FOR GRANTS THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY. AND SO THESE GRANTS ARE, YOU KNOW, MORE THAN ONE YEAR. SO WHEN WE GET THEM, WE JUST AMEND THE EXISTING CONTRACT THAT YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY APPROVED TO SERVE THIS PEOPLE. UH, THE, THE PROVIDERS THAT WE ALREADY ARE WORKING WITH. BUT WHENEVER WE APPLY FOR A GRANT, WHENEVER WE JUST APPLY TO A RECEIVE THE APPLY REPORT, THEN TO RECEIVE IT WE HAVE TO DO A RFP IN ORDER TO AWARD THE MONEY TO ANYBODY. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. APPRECIATE IT. MOTION TO APPROVE MR. DENNIS. SECOND BY THE CHAIR. OPPOSITION ITEM ONE 12 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM ONE 13 AUTHORIZED [113. 23-00201] AMER PRESENT EXECUTED CONTRACT ENGINEERING SERVICES WITH CHARETTE KIRKLAND ASSOCIATES FOR SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH REMOVAL BUREAU CAPACITY PROJECT HENNESSY BOULEVARD PERKINS CONNECTOR AND THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,828,387 AND 4 CENTS. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM [02:25:01] ONE 13? WE NOW GO TO COUNCILORS. THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEM ONE 13. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER BROCKER SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER NUMBER COLEMAN. ITEM ONE 13 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM ONE 14 AUTHORIZED [114. 23-00203] MAYOR PRESIDENT EXECUTED CONTRACT WITH PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES STUDY WITH GC INC. FOR SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH MOBILE CAPACITY PROJECT BLUEMONT BOULEVARD, PERKINS ROAD TO PICARD AVENUE AND IT AMOUNT NOW TO EXCEED $50,271 AND 23 CENTS. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 14? COUNCIL MEMBERS MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER. GO TO ANY OPPOSITION. WE GO NOW TO ITEM [115. 23-00207] ONE 15. AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENT. EXECUTED SUPPLEMENT AGREEMENT NUMBER THREE WITH ARC CADENCE US INCORPORATED FOR SERVICE ASSOCIATED WITH MOBILE CAPACITY LEE DRIVE, HIGHLAND, THE PERKINS ROAD IN THE MOUNT TIC C $7,967 AND 52 CENTS BY TRANSPORTATION DRAIN DIRECTORS. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 15. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKER SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. ITEM ONE 15 HAS BEEN APPROVED ANY OPPOSITION? ONE 16 AUTHORIZED [116. 23-00209] AM MAYOR, PRESIDENT SAID, SECURED A COOPERATIVE ENDEAVOR AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF LOUISIANA VISION OF ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF FACILITY PLANNING AND CONTROLLING CONNECTION WITH THE FP AND C PROJECT, HOOPER ROLL WIDENING AND SEWER IMPROVEMENTS. BLACKWATER BAYOU SULLIVAN ROAD PLANNING, ENGINEERING, UTILITIES AND CONSTRUCTION. THE PARISH WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MATCHING FUNDS UP TO $1,333,330 BY THE TRANSPORTATION DRAIN DIRECT. ANYONE HE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 16 REGARD THE COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEM ONE 16. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOK SECONDED BY THE CHAIR IN THE OPPOSITION. ITEM ONE 16 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM ONE 17 [117. 23-00210] AUTHORIZED IN THEIR PRESENT EXECUTED SUPPLEMENT AGREEMENT. NUMBER ONE, THE CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES ARE SHARED KIRKEN DO AND ASSOCIATES IN CONNECTION WITH THE PORT HICKEY ROAD BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT AND AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $5,500. OUR TRANSPORTATION DRAINAGE DIRECTOR. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 17 BUT NOW GO TO COUNCIL. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY COUNSELING NUMBER MCG ITEM ONE 17 THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM ONE [118. 23-00205] 18. AUTHORIZED MAYOR, PRESIDENT ACCEPT FUNDING FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES HEALTH RESOURCE AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ON BEHALF OF DIVISION OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND SERVICES FOR THE RYAN Y HIV AIDS PROGRAM, WHICH INCLUDES THE PART A AND THE MINORITY AIDS INITIATIVE AND THE AMOUNT OF $796,937 BY HUMAN RE SERVICES DIRECTOR. ANYONE HERE WILL SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 18. COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED ONE EMAIL, COMMENT AND OPPOSITION TO ITEM ONE 18. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? WHEN NOW GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOK. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN. ANY OPPOSITION WE GO TO ITEM ONE [119. 23-00206] 19 AUTHORIZED AM MAYOR PRESENT TO AMENDED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT WITH HEALTH ACCESS LLC IN THE AMOUNT OF $69,406 AND 25 CENTS FOR A TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED $114,406 25 CENTS FOR THE 2022. 2023 RYAN WHITE ENDING THE HIV EPIDEMIC BY HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTORS. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 19? WE NOW WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MO SECOND IN BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN. ITEM ONE 19 HAS BEEN APPROVED. COUNCIL MEMBERS'S [Items 120 - 137] GONNA TAKE ADJUDICATED PROPERTY ITEMS TOGETHER. ITEMS ONE 20 THROUGH 1 37 TOGETHER LOT ONE PLUS SQUARE 18 SUBDIVISION HICKEY TOWN DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN HIGH BIDDER REMARK TUCKER. $18,000 1 21 LOT 25 SQUARE 3 25 SUBDIVISION MAG MAGNIS VILLE, DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN REDEEMED. ITEM 1 22 LOT 38 PLUS SQUARE 24 SUBDIVISION EVEN PARK DISTRICT SEVEN HIGH BIDDER A ALLEN INVESTMENTS LLC 3000 501 23 LOT 21 SQUARE 1 0 4 SUBDIVISION SOUTH BATON ROUGE DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN HIGH BID. OSCAR GARNER JR. $100. ITEM 1 24 LOT B DASH THREE SUBDIVISION, GEORGE CLARK TRACK METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO LENGTHS HIGH BID. NA KIA WHITE $9,100. ITEM 1 25 LOT THREE SQUARE 10 SUBDIVISION NORTH BATON ROUGE DISTRICT TWO BANKS HIGH BID OF SOLOMON J OWNER $5,000. ITEM 1 26 LOT 38 SQUARE 10 SUBDIVISION SOUTH BATON ROUGE DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN HIGH BID OF SUNSHINE FREE C 100. ITEM 1 27 LOT 41 SQUARE NINE SUBDIVISION SOUTH BATON ROUGE DISTRICT 10 HIGH BID OF SUNSHINE FREEMA, LLC $100. ITEM 1 28 LOT 12 POINT SQUARE ONE SUBDIVISION ROSEDALE. DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN HIGH BIT QUARLES $8,000. ITEM 1 29 LOT THREE DASH B SUBDIVISION. EDGAR W KIRBY TRACK METRO DISTRICT ONE. NO HIGH BID OF JASON D COATS $100 ITEM ONE 30 LOT 12 POINT SQUARE ONE SUBDIVISION ROSEDALE DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN HIGH BITTA CORNELIUS CLAUSES $10,000. ITEM 1 31 LOT 12 POINT SQUARE ONE SUBDIVISION SCHWAR. DISTRICT 10 COLEMAN HIGH BITTA DARRYL W JACKSON SENIOR $3,000 ITEM 1 32 LOT 11 SQUARE ONE SUBDIVISION PITCH FORD CORZO. [02:30:02] DISTRICT SEVEN HIGH BIDDER LEONARD MULLENS JR. $6,000 ITEM 1 33 LOTS ONE PLUS SQUARE 27 SUBDIVISION EAST FAIRFIELD. DISTRICT SEVEN HIGH BIDDER YASMIN MCCLEAN, $17,000. ITEM 1 34 LOT 16 PLUS SQUARE 16. SUBDIVISION GREENVILLE EXTENSION DISTRICT SEVEN COLE HIGH BID OF MARVIN L AUGUSTA, SENIOR $100 ITEM 1 35 LOCK 36 SQUARE SEVEN SUBDIVISION SOUTH BATON ROUGE DISTRICT 10. COLEMAN HIGH BETA WILLIAM BLUNT 30. AND TERESA JOHNSON BLUNT $100 ITEM 1 36 LOCK 10 SQUARE TWO SUBDIVISION GLORIA TERRACE, DISTRICT SEVEN COLE HIGH BETA KELLY SMITH, $100 ITEM 1 37 LOT 1 52. SUBDIVISION VICTORIA GARDENS DISTRICT SEVEN COLE HIGH BIDDER SOUTHERN UNITED INCORPORATED $66,000. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEMS ONE 20 THROUGH 1 37? COUNCIL MEMBERS YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED ONE EMAIL COMMENT IN OPPOSITION TO ITEMS ONE 20 THROUGH 1 37. OKAY, DANIEL, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE ADJUDICATED PROPERTY? SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER NO. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN. ITEM ONE 20 THROUGH 1 37 HAVE BEEN APPROVED. WE'RE GONNA GO TO I, UH, ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS. MAYOR, CAN WE, SINCE WE HAVE SEVERAL REPORTS THAT NEED TO BE DONE, CAN WE GO AHEAD AND GET THE REPORTS DONE? I'M GONNA DO ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS AND I'M GONNA REQUEST THAT SOMEONE MAKE A MOTION TO EXTEND THE MEETING AND THEN WE CAN TAKE SOME REPORTS. [ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS] ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS. A 23 298 AMEND TITLE ONE CHAPTER FOUR SECTION SUCH AS TO INCREASE THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT LIABLE FOR PURCHASING MATERIALS TO $60,000 BY PURCHASING DIRECTOR B AUTHORIZING A SETTLEMENT OF MATTER OF ENTITLED CHARMAINE REED AND TROY LAWRENCE, JR. IN AN AMOUNT OF 55,000, APPROPRIATING 55,000 FOR SUCH PURPOSE. C RECEIVING A REPORT FROM THE BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE PARISH ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, DIVISION OF RISK MANAGEMENT AND THE NUMBER OF INCIDENT BYSTANDERS AND PASTORS HAVE BEEN KILLED AND INJURED BY B R P D POLICE PURSUITS AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN KILLED OR INJURED IN A TOTAL FROM THE B R P D CAUSE OR SERVICE B R T POLICE PURSUITS IN THE PAST 10 YEARS. THE REPORT IS ALSO INCLUDE THE FINANCIAL LIABILITY OF CITY PARIS AS A RESULT OF CLAIMS MADE BY THOSE IMPACTED BY POLICE PURSUITS BY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN DE RECEIVING A REPORT FROM THE BACKWARDS POLICE DEPARTMENT. THE CURRENT B R P D POLICY ON THE EXECUTION OF ARREST WARRANT REPORTS SHOULD INCLUDE A NUMBER OF RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL PRO CLAIMS FOR DAMAGE OF OWNERS OF THOSE PROPERTIES AS A RESULT OF THE EXECUTION OF AN ARREST AND EXECUTION OF AN ARREST WARRANT FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS. ADDITIONALLY, THE REPORT SHOULD OUTLINE THE PROCESS THAT PROPERTY OWNERS MUST FOLLOW WHEN MAKING SUCH CLAIM FOR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM THE EXECUTION OF SAID SEARCH WARRANT. AN E RECEIVING A REPORT FROM EAST PAR PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE ON A NUMBER OF INNOCENT BYSTANDERS, THE PARISHS THAT HAVE BEEN KILLED OR INJURED BY THE EAST PARISH PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE PURSUITS A NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN KILLED OR INJURED BY THE EASTBOUND PARISH SHERIFF CAUSE OF SERVICE OR EASTBOUND PARA SUR PURSUITS IN THE PAST 10 YEARS. THE REPORT SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE THE FINANCIAL LIABILITY TO THE TAXPAYER, WHICH FUNDS OF THE EASTBOUND PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND OR THE EASTBOUND PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE. IF IN ANY, AS A RESULT OF THE CLAIMS MADE BY THOSE IMPACTED BY PURSUITS FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS BY COUNCILMAN HAVE DONE AND IF RECEIVING A REPORT FROM THE EASTBOUND PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE OCCURRING TO THE EASTBOUND PARISH SHERIFF'S POLICY AND EXECUTION OF ARREST WARRANTS. THE REPORT SHOULD INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY CLAIMS AND DAMAGE OF THE OWNERS AND THE PROPERTIES AND A RESULTING EXECUTION OF THE ARREST WARRANT AS WELL AS THE FINANCIAL LIABILITY AND THE TAXPAYER, WHICH FUNDS THE EASTBOUND PARISH SERVICE OFFICER OR THE EASTBOUND PARISH SERVICE OFFICE, IF ANY, FOR CLAIMS MADE FOR THE PROPERTY DAMAGES DURING THE EXECUTION OF AN ARREST WARRANT FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS. ADDITIONALLY, REPORT SHOULD OUTLINE THE PROCESS THAT PROPERTY OWNERS MUST FOLLOW FROM MAKING SUCH A CLAIM FOR THE DAMAGE REZONING AND THE EXECUTION OF SUCH WARRANT. I NEED A MOTION. AWAIT THE RULES SO THE ITEMS CAN BE INTRODUCED. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUN, SECONDED BY THE CHAIRS THERE. ANY OPPOSITION TO THE MOTION? AWAIT THE RULES. WE NEED TO HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING ON A MOTION AWAY. ANYONE HERE TO SPEAK ON IT? WE NEED TO VOTE. IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION ON A MOTIONAL WAY? THE RULES WITHOUT A MOTION TO INTRODUCE THE ITEMS. MOTION TO INTRODUCE THE ITEM BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN. SECONDED BY THE CHAIR ADMINISTRATIVE MATTER EMERGENCY G AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR PRESENT INSTITUTE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY WELLNESS VENTURE IN THE AMOUNT OF $90,000. BROAD MARKETING AMOUNT OF 75,000 JAZZY SOLUTION IN THE AMOUNT OF $100,000. INFORM TAX IN THE AMOUNT OF $150,000 INTO A SUB SOLUTIONS SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT WITH TRUTH IN THE AMOUNT OF $50,000 IN WORK GUN FOUNDATION IN THE AMOUNT 150,000 AND AGILE PLANNING SOLUTIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF 50,000 TO ADMINISTER AND OPERATE COMMUNITY BASED VIOLENCE INTER INTERVENTION PROGRAMS FUNDED WITH THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT AND BRIGHT GRANT FUNDING TOTAL IS 665,000 DEDICATED TO COMBATING COMMUNITY VIOLENCE CONTINUED ON GRANTS AND CONTRAST COMMITTEE APPROVAL NEED A MOTION. THE REASON THIS ITEM IS BEING REQUESTED, ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS TO ESTABLISHED ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM BEFORE DOJ RAN DEADLINE. WE NEED A MOTION TO RAISE THE RULES. I NEED A MOTION. SO, MOVE QUESTION. GO AHEAD. I'D LIKE TO ENTER A MOTION TO INTRODUCE THIS ITEM AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS INTRODUCTION TO BE HEARD ON MARCH 8TH. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE A MOTION. WE, WE NEED TO WAIVE THE RULES FIRST TO ALLOW THE ITEM TO EVEN, UH, BE CONSIDERED MOTION WA MOTION WAIVE THE RULES. SO MOVE IS JUST SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN BANK. YOU GOT A QUESTION? COUNCILMAN BANKS? [02:35:01] OKAY, SO IF I ACTUALLY DON'T THINK WE SHOULD, UH, SO I, IF ONE PERSON OBJECTS, THEN WAIT A MINUTE. LET, LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO, OKAY? I UNDERSTAND. SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS. SO INSTEAD OF HEARING IT TONIGHT, I JUST WANT TO INTRODUCE IT SO IT'LL BE HEARD ON MARCH 8TH. SO WE WE WON'T TAKE ANY ACTION, WE WON'T HEAR THE REPORT. WE'LL JUST INTRODUCE IT AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS INTRODUCTION. AND I DO UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I THINK THE QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ASKED THAT I'M INTERESTED IN, IF THIS HAS TO DO WITH WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS BEING IMPLEMENTED IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM AND ME HEARING THAT ASPECT OF IT, AND I DON'T THINK THAT'S BEING, YOU WANT TO HEAR IT? I WANT TO GET THE INFORMATION FROM THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TONIGHT. NO, I WANT TO, I WANT TO NOT HEAR IT TONIGHT. LET IT BE REINTRODUCED. I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WANT TO INTRODUCE IT TONIGHT. INTRODUCE IT, BUT FOR PUBLIC HEARING ON MARCH 8TH. RIGHT. WE, WE WILL NOT HEAR ANYTHING AND I'M SAYING NOT HEAR IT AT ALL AND LET IT BE INTRODUCED. MARCH 8TH. OBJECT. OKAY, SO I'M GONNA OBJECT WHAT SHE'S ASKING ABOUT YOU BEING INTRODUCED. IF SHE OBJECTS TO THE MOTION TO WAIVE THE RULES, THE ITEM IS NOT EVEN CONSIDERED. OKAY. THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO ASK IF MS. BANKS IS OBJECTING TO THAT. THAT'S, THAT'S THE END OF THE DISCUSSION ON THE ITEM. OKAY. ARE YOU OBJECTING, MS. BANKS? I AM OBJECTING. THAT'S THE END OF THE DISCUSSION ON THE ITEM. WE NOW WILL GO TO SOME REPORTS SINCE WE HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE WAITING. LET'S GET A MOTION TO, UH, MEETING. WE NEED A MOTION TO EXTEND THE MEETING. NEED A MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER MOK? SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER FIRST. THAT'S TO EXTEND THE MEETING FOR 30 MINUTES. COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE GONNA GO? THAT MEANS WE'LL GO TO 8 48. IS THERE ANY OBJECTIONS WE NOW GO TO? LET'S SEE WHICH ONE WE WANT TO HEAR FIRST. WHO'S GONNA BE THE, THE QUICKEST? NO, I'M JUST JOKING. LET'S GO TO ITEM. UH, LET'S GO TO MY ITEM. NO, LET'S GO TO ITEM 1 48. PUT APPOINTMENT'S 1 38, 1 39 AND CHANGE ALL TO ONE 40. DUDE, JUST, I'M GONNA COME BACK TO HIM. OKAY? YEP. NO, I'M GONNA COME BACK CUZ I, I HAD THIS REQUEST EARLY ON AND I JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE REQUEST. LET'S GO TO RECEIVING THE COURT OF REPORT FROM THE BRIDGE CENTER OF HOPE BY COUNCIL MEMBER MARI. CAUSE I KNOW THIS YOUNG LADY KNOWS HOW TO BE REALLY GOOD EVENING. GOOD EVENING. HOW ARE Y'ALL? I WILL BE BRIEF THOUGH. THANK YOU. YEP. CHARLOTTE CLAYBORNE, THE BRIDGE CENTER FOR HOPE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. SO THE REPORT THAT I'M GONNA GIVE YOU IS GONNA BE, UM, CONCISE WITH THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2022. BUT THEN ALSO IT'S GOING TO GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION FOR THE FACILITY AS A WHOLE. UM, AS YOU KNOW, THE FACILITY HAS BEEN OPEN FOR NOW TWO YEARS. WE CELEBRATED OUR TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY ON FEBRUARY THE 11TH. AND DURING THAT TIME, FROM FEBRUARY THE 11TH UNTIL JANUARY THE 30TH, CAUSE I DON'T HAVE FEBRUARY DATE, WE HAVE SERVED OVER 5,487 INDIVIDUALS. UM, OF THAT 5,487 5,240 WERE ADMITTED. I DO WANNA MAKE A CLARIFICATION. UM, I HEARD COUNCILMAN HURST WAS EXPLAINING BRIEFLY WHAT THE BREW CENTER FOR HOPE WAS. BUT FOR THOSE IN THE ROOM WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE FACILITY, WE ARE A CRISIS STABILIZATION CENTER THAT DOES INPATIENT SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HAVING A MENTAL HEALTH AND A SUBSTANCE USE CRISIS. MEANING THAT ANYONE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH THAT IS ENCOUNTERING LAW ENFORCEMENT, OR IF THEY'RE CURRENTING FIRST RESPONDERS OR IF THEY'RE JUST A REGULAR CITIZEN OF THEIR OWN, THEY HAVE ACCESS TO CARE FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND, UM, SUBSTANCE USE WITHOUT HAVING TO HAVE ANY TYPE OF REFERRAL AS LONG AS THEY'RE OVER 18 YEARS AND ABOVE. UM, THE REASON WHY IT'S DESIGNED THAT WAY IS BECAUSE THE LAST THING THAT YOU WANT TO DO IS PUT BARRIERS ON SOMEONE WHO IS IN A CRISIS SITUATION. SO YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO GET THEM IN AS QUICK AS LEAST AS POSSIBLE. ANOTHER CLARIFICATION IS THAT THE BRIDGE CENTER OPERATES SIMILAR TO THAT OF AN EMERGENCY ROOM IN THE SENSE THAT WE CAN DO THE EXACT SAME THING THAT AN EMERGENCY ROOM CAN DO FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. WHAT WE CANNOT DO IS WHEN IT BECOMES A PHYSICAL ISSUE, WHEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH BLOOD PRESSURE OR YOU'RE DEALING WITH SOMETHING THAT, THAT'S A LITTLE BIT BEYOND OUR SCOPE. AND WHAT WE END UP DOING IS WE WOULD BRING THAT INDIVIDUAL TO THE HOSPITAL SO THAT THEY CAN RECEIVE SERVICES. THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE ASK THE PUBLIC TO DO ON THEIR OWN. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DO ON OUR OWN TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT PERSON IS SAFE. UM, ANOTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO CLARIFY WITH THE BRIDGE CENTER IS THAT AS OF LAST YEAR, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, CRISIS SERVICES IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. AND WITH THAT BEING SAID, WE KNOW THAT MARCH 22ND, MARCH OF 2022 WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT LOUISIANA HAD IMPLEMENTED RATES FOR MEDICAID FOR CRISIS SERVICES. SO FOR DURING THAT TIMEFRAME, UM, WE WENT BACK AND [02:40:01] FORTH WITH LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE MCOS, WHICH IS THE MANAGED CARE ORGANIZATIONS, THAT'S YOUR MEDICAID PROVIDERS. AND WE FINALLY GOT CLARIFICATION AND WE FINALLY GOT THEM TO RAISE THE RATES ON EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 1ST, 2022. SO WITH THOSE RATES BEING RAISED, IT DID SET THE BAR A LITTLE BIT FOR US. BUT AGAIN, BY BEING THE ONLY CRISIS RECEIVING CENTER IN THE STATE THAT PROVIDES THESE COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES, THE REIMBURSEMENT IS STILL SLOW. SO I KNOW THAT WAS A QUESTION THAT YOU GUYS ARE GONNA HAVE. UM, AND WE'RE STILL WORKING WITH LDH. LDH HAS REALLY BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN GETTING THE MCOS TO COOPERATE BECAUSE AGAIN, IT IS A NEW SERVICE. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, I THINK ANOTHER QUESTION WOULD BE IS ARE WE GONNA OPEN THE DETOX UNIT? UM, WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THIS, WE'VE NEVER STOPPED DOING SERVICES. WE STILL PROVIDE THE SAME MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE SERVICES WE HAS ALWAYS DONE. WE'VE JUST CONSOLIDATED A LITTLE BIT. UM, WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT THAT OUR PARTNERS, OUR INTERNATIONAL HAS FINALLY BROKEN. EVEN IF WE WERE TO KEEP THE FACILITY OPEN AT FULL CAPACITY AND NOT BEING ABLE TO RECEIVE THAT MANY INDIVIDUALS, AND WITH REIMBURSEMENT RATE BEING SO LOW, THEN THEY WOULD OPERATE IN A DEFICIT. SO WE'RE STILL PROVIDING ALL OF THE SERVICES. AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I NEED TO CLARIFY IS THAT WHEN WE INITIALLY TALKED ABOUT THIS IN 2018 AND ALL OF THAT, WE TALKED ABOUT A EIGHT BED CRISIS FACILITY. THAT WAS IT. WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT 64. SO WE ARE STILL OPERATING WITH MORE THAN WHAT WE INITIALLY CAME TO THE PUBLIC ABOUT. UM, WE STILL HAVE THE 16, UM, CRISIS SHARES. WE STILL HAVE THE 16 BED FACILITIES. SO WE'RE STILL OPERATING WITH MORE THAN WHAT WE INITIALLY PROPOSED. SO I I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO THINK THAT WE'RE LOSING SERVICES. WE'RE ACTUALLY STILL GIVING MORE THAN WHAT WE ASKED FOR, UM, IN THAT REGARD. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT QUICKLY, AND I'M GONNA BE QUICK, IS THAT THE FIRST RESPONDERS HERE, AND WHEN I SAY FIRST RESPONDERS, I MEAN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EMS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO ABOUT 25% OF THE POPULATION THAT HAVE COME TO THE BRIDGE CENTER. AND THAT ACCOUNTS FOR ROUGHLY, UM, 1,602 INDIVIDUALS, UM, OUT OF THAT 54 TOTAL. AND THEN THE REMAINING INDIVIDUALS HAVE COME ON THEIR OWN. AND THAT'S A GREAT TESTAMENT TO EASTBOUND ROUGE PARISH BECAUSE THAT MEANS THEY ARE AWARE OF THE FACILITY. AND THEN THAT MEANS THEY ARE ABLE TO COME IN ON THEIR OWN AND THEY'RE NOT HAVING TO CALL EMS. THEY'RE NOT HAVING TO CALL 9 1 1 TO BE ABLE TO, UM, UTILIZE THE SERVICES. DURING THIS TIME. FROM MARCH OF 2022 TILL DECEMBER, ABOUT 77 OF THE POPULA, 77% OF THE POPULATION IS MEDICAID FUNDED. UM, 21% IS BRIDGE CENTER FUNDED, MEANING THEY HAD NOTHING THERE WITH THE INDIGENT POPULATION. AND THEN A 2%, UM, IS EITHER MEDICARE OR COMMERCIAL PAYERS. BUT KEEP IN MIND, WE TAKE EVERYONE OR ALL COMMERCIAL PLANS, 75% ARE MALES, UM, 25% ARE FEMALES, 53% IS BLACK AND 38% WHITE AND 9% OTHER. AS FAR AS THE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 2,585 INDIVIDUALS WHO RECEIVED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. AND THEN 2,156 INDIVIDUALS RECEIVE EITHER SUBSTANCE USE OR CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS, WHICH WHEN WE SAY CO COURT, THAT MEANS MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE ISSUES. UM, I DO WANNA SAY ONE THING. UM, I JUST WANNA TAKE A PAUSE AND JUST ANNOUNCE THAT ONE OF OUR BOARD MEMBERS, CHRISTINE NICHOLS, PASSED AWAY YESTERDAY. SO I JUST WANTED TO, IF, IF YOU'VE NEVER MET CHRIS, UM, SHE WAS A WONDERFUL WOMAN WHO SHE STARTED MMO, UM, WHICH DEALT WITH MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESSES FOR THE HOMELESS. AND SHE WAS A HUGE ADVOCATE FOR THE BRIDGE CENTER FOR HOPE. SHE HAD BEEN ON OUR BOARD SINCE THE INCEPTION OF IT, AND SHE OPENED AND OPERATED SEVERAL FACILITIES THROUGHOUT THE PARISH AND ONE OF, AND EVEN TO THE DETRIMENT OF DOING IT OUT OF HER OWN POCKET. SO I JUST WANT YOU TO TAKE THAT MOMENT TO GIVE RECOGNITION TO HER AND HER SERVICE HERE AT THE BREW CENTER FOR HOPE AND THEN THROUGH THE PARISH AS WELL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU. OH, ANYONE? ANYONE? HERE? COME ON REVEREND. GOOD EVENING. GOOD EVENING. MY QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED AT THE LAST QUARTERLY REPORT. UH, THE QUESTIONS AROUND THE BUDGETING AROUND REDUCTION IN SERVICES AROUND THE, UH, FUTURE. AND I SPECIFICALLY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, UH, MAYBE MORE FROM THE METRO COUNCIL THAN FROM, UH, THE BRIDGE CENTER. IS, IS THERE A INDEPENDENT AUDITING THAT WILL BE DONE FOR JUST TAXPAYER DOLLARS? I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY HAVE OTHER FUNDING SOURCES, BUT I'M TALKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE ALLOCATION OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS. IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE [02:45:01] AN INDEPENDENT, UH, PARISH SPONSORED, UH, ACCOUNTING? THANK YOU. CAN YOU ANSWER THAT CHARLOTTE? PART OF OUR C GO AHEAD. PART OF OUR C AGREEMENT IS TO DO, UM, AN INDEPENDENT AUDIT, UM, DATA APPOINT AND BRIAN DOES WANT EVERY SINGLE YEAR, AND IT'S RETURNED TO THE, UM, FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF CITY PARISH ROUGHLY AROUND MAY. AND THEN ALSO THAT AUDIT COULD BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AS WELL. THANK YOU COUNCILMAN. THANK YOU FOR THE REPORT. YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING, SEAN? YES. SPEAKING YOUR MIC, PLEASE OPERATE. YOU KNOW, THEY GOT DIFFERENT KIND OF AUDIT. IT'S A FINANCIAL AUDIT. OKAY. AND DO, ARE THERE, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A MECHANISM FROM THE AUDIT WHERE FINANCE GOES AND DETERMINE COMPLIANCE OR HOW DOES THAT WORK? SO WHEN THE FINANCEER AUDIT, IT BREAKS DOWN IN TERMS OF EVERYTHING THAT WE SPEND. SO, SO WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SERVICES THAT GOES STRICTLY TO OUR PROVIDER. IT DOESN'T DEL DEEP DIVE INTO, YOU KNOW, WHAT INDIVIDUALS ARE, YOU KNOW, ARE BROKEN DOWN. BUT IT TELLS YOU THIS IS GOES THIS WHAT EVERY, UH, LINE ITEM GOES TO WHERE WE SPEND THE PARISH MONEY FOR. OKAY. UM, FINANCE PLEASE. THANK YOU SEAN. OKAY, SO, SO I DID HEAR, UM, I UNDERSTOOD WHAT, WHAT CHARLOTTE, BUT ALSO I KNOW THAT THERE'S THE POST POSTAL NETWORK THAT'S HIS P N N P N N AUDITS. HOW DO, HOW WOULD, IF THE COUNCIL WANTED AN EXTERNAL AUDIT FROM THEM, WHAT, WHAT WOULD BE NECESSARY AND WHAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM THE KIND OF AUDIT THAT BRIDGE CENTER PROVIDES VERSUS WHAT P AND M WOULD DO FOR US? SO THEY HAVE AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR THAT DOES AN AUDIT OF THEIR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS MM-HMM. AND LOOKS AT, AT THEIR INTERNAL CONTROLS AND MAKES SURE THAT THEIR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ARE DONE IN ACCORDANCE WITH, WITH ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES. MM. OKAY. UM, SO WHAT AND AND THEY ACTUALLY ARE A COMPONENT UNIT OF OUR REPORTING UNIT. SO WE REVIEW THAT. WE WOULD, YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD HAVE TO SHOW IF THERE WERE ANY MATERIAL WEAKNESSES IN THEIR INTERNAL CONTROLS AND WE WOULD LOOK AT THAT IF WE WANTED PNN TO DO SOME ADDITIONAL WORK MM-HMM. TO LOOK AT THEM. WE COULD DO THAT. AND, UM, WE HAVE A, UM, A PART OF OUR CONTRACT THAT ALLOWS US TO DO LIKE SPECIAL CONTRACT WORK MM-HMM. AND WE WOULD INVOKE THAT AND COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL. WE WOULD NEED A SCOPE OF WORK ON WHAT WE WOULD WANT THEM TO LOOK AT MM-HMM. . UM, AND THEN WE WOULD GO AHEAD AND GET AN ESTIMATE FROM THEM ON THE TIME THAT WOULD TAKE, AND THEN I WOULD COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL WITH A CONTRACT TO DO THAT WORK. IS THERE A COMPARABLE AUDIT FOR AN AGENCY WITH LIGHT BRIDGE THAT WE ALREADY, THAT WE COULD USE AS A REFERENCE? IT REALLY WOULD DEPEND ON THE SCOPE OF THE WORK THAT YOU WANTED TO DO. I DON'T, I DON'T THINK THAT WE COULD, WE COULD COMPARE IT. I'VE HAD THEM DO SOME SPECIAL AUDITS ON, ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROJECTS. OKAY. BUT IT REALLY WOULD BE, WE WOULD HAVE TO WRITE A SCOPE, WE WOULD HAVE TO GET AN ESTIMATE FROM THEM ON, UM, ON WHAT, WHAT WORK WOULD BE NEEDED AND WE CAN GO FORWARD WITH THAT. THANK YOU. YES MA'AM. COUNCIL MEMBER, DOUG, CHARLIE, YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD TO THAT? UM, P AND N POST, WAIT, NEVILLE IS OUR CFO AND THAT'S WHY DEGA APPOINT AND BRIAN IS OUR AUDITOR, OUR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR CUZ THEY CAN'T AUDIT THEMSELVES. SO BETWEEN THE TWO, THEY WORK IN COLLABORATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH PRODUCING THAT AUDIT THAT WE TURN INTO A CITY PARISH. AGAIN, LIKE SHE SAID, THERE'S A DIFFERENT, IT STILL COULD BE A DIFFERENT AUDIT. I WASN'T, IT WASN'T REALLY MY CONCERN ON WHO. MM-HMM. , I JUST MENTIONED THEM CUZ BUT STILL THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF AUDITS AND THEY CAN HAVE A CERTAIN, UM, AREA THAT THEY WANT VERSUS YOUR GENERAL. SO THAT'S ALL. OKAY, THANK YOU. YES. UM, SHE IS CORRECT. THAT WOULD BE IT. THAT WOULD, WE COULD NOT GET P AND N TO DO IT. YEAH. BUT IF YOU WANTED TO DO IT, WE COULD, WE COULD DO AN RFP AND WE COULD ENGAGE OTHER AUDIT FIRMS TO DO THAT WORKFORCE US. PERFECT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE REPORT. CHARLOTTE. ITEM [138. 23-00290] 1 38 COUNCIL MEMBERS GAS UTILITY DISTRICT NUMBER ONE BOARD OF COMMISS COMMISSIONER'S CONSIDERATION OF REAPP APPOINTING AND REPLACING LARRY PIERCE. ITEM [139. 23-00291] 1 39 UTILITY DISTRICT NUMBER ONE BOARD OF COMMISSIONS CONSIDERATION OF REAPP APPOINTING OR REPLACING LARRY POLINSKY. UH, IS THERE ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 38 AND 1 39? AT THIS TIME I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO REAPPOINT LARRY PIERCE AND LARRY POLINSKY. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER AMAR SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER NOEL. UH, CONGRATULATIONS [140. 23-00262] GENTLEMEN. ITEM ONE 40 TRAFFIC, UH, CHANGE ORDER TRAFFIC CENTER DETECTION, INSTALLATION CONTRACTOR JB GROUP OF LA LLC, DOING BUSINESS INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTION GROUP, UH, $54,789 85 CENTS [02:50:01] OF CREDIT. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE 40? WE NOW GO TO COUNCIL NUMBER ZERO. MOTION TO APPROVE. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY THE CHAIR IN THE OPPOSITION ITEM 1 41 [141. 23-00264] SOUTH CHOCTAW DRIVE, FLANNERY ROAD CENTRAL THROUGHWAY CONTRACT RJ DAY ON SON'S CONTRACT INCORPORATED CHANGE ORDER AROUND $421,427 AND 6 CENTS. ANYONE HERE SPEAK ON 1 41? NARO. THE COUNCIL WAS SO MOVED BY ADAM, SECONDED BY COLEMAN. THIS CHANGE ORDER. YEAH, TALK TO ME. TELL ME AND EXPLAIN TO ME ABOUT THIS CHANGE ORDER. IS THIS, UH, 421,000 MORE DOLLARS THAT THEY'RE ASKING TO BE PAID? YES MA'AM. THAT'S CORRECT. IT IS. AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS WHEN WE GOT INTO THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION MODE, WE HAD TO, UH, BECAUSE THE WAY THE PROJECT WAS LAID OUT, UH, WE ACTUALLY HAD TO CLOSE THE ROAD TO BE ABLE TO ALLOW SOME OF THE CONSTRUCTION TO TAKE PLACE. UH, MOST OF IT WAS DUE TO, UH, DRAINAGE HEIGHT AND WITHIN AREAS THAT CREATED, UH, THE INABILITY TO BETTER GET THE ROAD IN PLACE. AND, AND THEY'RE STILL WORKING ON SOME OF THOSE ITEMS AS WE STAND TODAY. BUT THIS WILL BE THE, THIS SHOULD BE THE CHANGE ORDER WE HAVE TO DO TO, TO ADDRESS TIME EXTENSIONS AND ALSO FOR THE UP UPSIZE OF PIPE AND ALSO FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE, UH, OVERALL CONDITION OF THE ROAD. AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT THIS CONTRACTOR HAS DONE SUCH WORK? NO MA'AM. IT, THEY'VE DONE WORK FOR THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE. IT'S, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY THE CONTRACTOR. IT WAS THROUGH THE PROCESS OF ENGINEERING. THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT PICKED UP AT THIS FORM, MA'AM. YOU MEAN THE CITY? NOT THE, NOT THE CITY, NO. WE, WE CONTRACT THIS OUT THROUGH AN ENGINEERING FIRM, BUT IT'S NOT UNCOMMON MISS, YOU KNOW, ON THIS, UH, THIS ISSUE MS. COLEMAN. CAUSE SOMETIMES YOU, WHEN YOU GO OUT TO THESE, THESE SITES, YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE AND, AND BECAUSE YOU DO PHYSICAL INVESTIGATION DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN IT'S ALWAYS THERE. AND THAT'S WHAT WE RAN INTO HERE, PARTICULARLY WITH SOME OF THE DRAINAGE PIPE THAT HAS TO BE DONE TO BE ABLE TO GET THE OVERALL I KNEW, I KNOW NOBODY LIKES CHANGE ORDERS AND I'M NOT, I'M NOT ONE THAT LIKES IT EITHER, BUT I MEAN, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN UNFORESEEN ITEMS THAT POP UP, UH, THERE'S GONNA BE SOME TYPE OF CHANGE FOR THAT. ITEM 1 41. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED BY COUNCILMAN MO, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HERS ITEM 1 41. AND ANY OBJECTION ITEM 1 41 HAS BEEN APPROVED. ITEM [142. 23-00263] 1 42, FINAL ACCEPTANCE TRAFFIC SIGNALS OF SECTION INSTALLATION. JB GROUP OF LOUISIANA LLC I SG INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS GROUP. FINAL CALL, 734,311 AND $35. ANYONE HERE TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 42 I TO COUNCIL? THERE. MOTION SHALL MOVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAM SECONDED BY THE CHAIR. ANY OPPOSITION REGARD TO ITEM 1 43? [143. 23-00233] BAT ORANGE CONCOURSE A ROOF REPLACEMENT BAY? SURE. ROOF OF CONSTRUCTIONS INCORPORATED $337 THOUSAND $7. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 43 WILL NOW GO TO COUNCIL. SO MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. SECONDED BY THE CHAIR. ANY OPPOSITION? ITEM [144. 23-00265] 1 44 JEFFERSON HIGHWAY OF BLUEMONT AND BOULEVARD BOONE SERVICES. $939,200. ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM 1 44? WE GO TO COUNCIL SOME MORE BY ADAM, SECONDED BY THE CHAIR. A VERY QUICK REPORT. WE'RE GOING TO GO TO RECEIVING [147. 23-001] A REPORT FROM THE AMERICAN RED CROSS CAPITAL WEST CHAPTER ON SMOKE DETECTOR USE BY THE CHAIR. ITEM 1 47. COME ON DOWN, SIR. YOU'RE WELCOME. THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS, RIGHT, ? SO MY NAME'S ED BUSH. I AM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CAPITAL WEST CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS. I'M NEW TO THE RED CROSS. I'M COMING UP IN MY THIRD YEAR. PRIOR TO THAT I WAS 30 YEARS ARMY. I RETIRED IN 2020. UM, I WASN'T SURE WHAT I WAS GONNA DO AND I FELT A TAPPING ON MY SHOULDER AND, UH, GENERAL HONORE FOUND A WAY TO SEND MY BOSS AN EMAIL THAT SAID, HEY, TELL THAT, TELL THAT GUY TO GO CHECK OUT THE RED CROSS. SO, SO I AM HERE, I AM HERE TO, TO DO AN INTRODUCTION AND I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. UM, AND I WANT TO JUST, JUST LEAVE YOU WITH SOME INFORMATION AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR RED CROSS IS DOING FOR YOU. THIS IS NOT, UH, MY FIRST INTRODUCTION WITH ALL OF YOU. I DO HAVE A FRIEND ON THE COUNCIL. I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET COUNCILMAN GALE. UM, WHEN WE WERE PUTTING TOGETHER AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A GREAT THING TO DO IN GUARDER A FEW WEEKS BACK, UM, MY BOARD CHAIRMAN, RYAN HANEY, WHO SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW, INTRODUCED ME TO, TO ROWDY AND THEN, UH, PASTOR WILLIAMS WHO WAS ALSO HERE, BUT HE HAD TO, TO GO LEAD A BIBLE GROUP. UM, HE, HE ALSO INTRODUCED ME. SO YEAH, VERY QUICKLY, UM, COUNCILMAN GODDE SAID, LET ME HELP YOU, LET ME HELP YOU WITH THIS THING. INTRODUCED ME TO THE FOLKS AT THE GARDEN INITIATIVE AND THEY SAID, LET US HELP YOU, LET US HELP YOU WITH THIS THING. UM, SO, SO THAT IS MY MESSAGE FOR ALL OF YOU. YOU [02:55:01] ARE EACH PARTICULARLY WELL SUITED BECAUSE YOU, YOU HAVE IN YOUR HAND THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT I AM TRYING TO MEET. UM, FOR ME, THE RED CROSS MISSION IS, IS TO HELP THOSE WHO WHO ARE MOST IN NEED OF HELP. AND, AND WE ALL KNOW THAT, THAT ALL TOO OFTEN THAT COMES IN THE WAY OF A SHELTER. UM, AND, AND SURE, THE RED CROSS HAS THE SHELTER MISSION AND, AND ITS FORMAL. WE ARE A PART OF THE, THE EP, UH, OVERALL SHELTER TASK FORCE. WE ARE IN SUPPORT OF DCFS. WE HAVE THAT MISSION EVERY TIME THERE'S A STORM AND WE'RE PREPARED TO TAKE ALL THAT OVER. BUT, BUT, BUT IT'S ALL THAT OTHER STUFF THAT I, THAT I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT AND, AND I'VE GOT IT ALL IN THESE FOLDERS FOR YOU. SO, SO MOST OF WHAT'S IN THESE FOLDERS IS THE STUFF THAT WE DO OUTSIDE OF THE DISASTER RESPONSE. WHAT THE RED CROSS WOULD CALL BLUE SKY STUFF. AND, AND I'LL USE TWO EXAMPLES THAT JUST HAPPENED, AND THEN, AND THEN I'LL BE ON MY WAY. SO, SO IN GUARDER WE MET PEOPLE WHO HAVE SCHOOLS AND HAVE CHURCHES. WHILE I CAN BRING RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS TO A SCHOOL AND WE CAN TEACH THOSE STUDENTS HOW TO BE MORE RESILIENT, WE CAN TEACH THOSE STUDENTS HOW TO BE MORE PREPARED. UM, AND I WOULD ASK YOU TO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO, TO CONNECT ME WITH YOUR SCHOOLS AS WELL. UM, THERE ARE CHURCHES ALL THROUGHOUT GUARDE AND I MET SEVERAL PASTORS IN FAITH-BASED LEADERS. A CHURCH IS A PERFECT MICROCOSM FOR A RED CROSS MISSION BECAUSE THE CHURCH, WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT, OFTENTIMES THEY FIND THEMSELVES A SHELTER, WHETHER THEY INTENDED TO BE A SHELTER. SUDDENLY THERE ARE PEOPLE THERE AND THEY FIND THEMSELVES IN THE SHELTER BUSINESS. SO FOR THE CHURCH, IT'S OFTEN THE SOURCE OF FRUSTRATION THAT THEY'RE NOT PREPARED FOR THAT. WELL, I'M IN THE PREPAREDNESS BUSINESS, SO, SO FROM THAT CHURCH, I SAY, GIVE ME 10 OF YOUR PEOPLE AND I WILL TRAIN THEM ON HOW TO BE A SHELTER MANAGER, TRAIN THEM HOW TO DO FEEDING, TRAIN THEM HOW TO BE RESILIENT. AND I'VE LISTED SOME OF THOSE JOBS IN YOUR FOLDER, THOSE TRAITS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR FROM THAT COMMUNITY, FROM THAT CHURCH, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT SUCCESS IS. SUCCESS TO ME IS, IS WHERE IT'S NOT THE COMMUNITY. AND THE RED CROSS SUCCESS IS THAT YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO. AND IT HAPPENED IN GUARDE AND THE BLAKE OF AN EYE. YOU KIND OF, YOU COULDN'T REALLY TELL WHERE THE, WHERE THE RED CROSS STOPPED AND STARTED AND WHERE THE REST OF IT WAS. BUT, BUT I CAN'T DO THAT WITHOUT YOU SORT OF INTRODUCING ME TO YOUR FRIENDS AND, AND BRINGING ME DOWN. SO, SO YEAH, THIS WAS, THIS WAS A HIGH, AN INTRODUCTION. UM, EACH OF YOU HAVE MY BUSINESS CARD IN THERE. UM, SO WHEN IT'S CONVENIENT FOR YOU, UH, AND, AND THIS SEED THAT I HOPEFULLY JUST PLANTED, UH, HAS A, HAS A MOMENT WHERE YOU'RE LIKE, OH, THIS WOULD BE A GOOD THING. I THINK THIS IS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT. I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU JUST TO GIMME A CALL AND, AND I'LL BRING SOME OF MY RED CROSS TEAMMATES AND WE'LL GET SOMETHING. UM, GET SOMETHING GOOD GOING. THANK YOU. ANY QUESTIONS OF ME? THANK YOU. LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THANK YOU. DISTRICT SEVEN. NEXT, UH, IS WHAT I'M TOLD PASTOR WILLIAMS SAY WE GONNA DO SOMETHING. YOU LEAVING THE MIC? I'M, I'M, I'M, I'M, I'M TALKING TO YOU, SIR. OH, I . I'M SO SORRY HE WAS MOVING FORWARD. I WAS LIKE, OH, HE'S ALREADY MOVING ON. NO, NO, NO. UH, PASTOR WILLIAMS SAID, WE GONNA DO SOMETHING IN DISTRICT SEVEN NEXT, VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU DID IN GUARDIA. SO I LOOK FORWARD TO IT. WE, WE, WE CAME DOWN AND WE, WE DID A GREAT EVENT WITH A HUNDRED BLACK MEN IN BATON ROUGE AS WELL. THEY HAD A HUNDRED KIDS. UM, AND AGAIN, THAT'S WHERE THE MILITARY TRAINING COMES IN HANDY CUZ IT'S, IT'S JUST GOOD TRAINING. AND WE TAUGHT EACH OF THOSE KIDS FOUR CLASSES IN TWO HOURS, AND THEY WENT HOME KNOWING HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, KNOWING HOW TO HAVE A PLAN FOR THEIR HOUSE, AND KNOWING HOW TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE PREPARED. SO, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU WERE TALKING TO ME. SUPER RUDE. NO PROBLEM, NO PROBLEM. I, I BLAME IT ON THE HOUR. NO PROBLEM. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. UH, NO PROBLEM. YEAH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE NOW GO TO ITEM [150. 23-00215 (Part 1 of 2)] ONE 50, RECEIVING A REPORTED BY GARAGE MANAGEMENT VENDOR, L AZ PARKING, OUTLINING THE PROCESS AND PROCEDURES, RULES AND REGULATIONS AS IT PERTAINS TO B ONE PARKING AFTER BUSINESS HOURS AND DURING EVENTS BY THE CITY PARISH EMPLOYEE, THE ELECTED OFFICIALS. ADDITIONALLY TO REPORT SHOULD INCLUDE A OVERVIEW OF FEES CHARGED AND REVENUES EARNED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN. GOOD EVENING, COUNSEL. GOOD EVENING. I AM TRINA HALL. I'M THE D UM, DIRECTOR OVER, UM, OFFICE OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS. AND THE PARKING GARAGE IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT'S BEEN CONTRACTED OUT BY CITY PARISH. UM, IT WAS CONTRACTED OUT BACK IN 2019 TO LAWS PARKING MANAGEMENT. AND THEY ARE NOW IN CONTROL OF THE DAY-TO-DAY PARKING MANAGEMENT OF THOSE GARAGE, B ONE, B TWO EAST AND WEST GARAGE. SO WE HAVE MR. CORNELIUS THOMPSON, HE'S THE VP FROM LAWS. HE CAME IN FROM DALLAS. AND WE HAVE RENEE, WHO IS THE DIRECTOR, BUT SHE'S THE, THE LOCAL PERSON FOR, SO I'LL ALLOW THEM TO GIVE UP A REPORT. OKAY. UM, THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME BE HERE TODAY. UM, TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR GARAGES. THEY, UH, WHEN WE TOOK OVER BACK, I THINK FIVE YEARS, SIX YEARS AGO, IT WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A CHALLENGE. UM, WE HAVE MODERNIZED IT. WE NOW HAVE PAY BY PHONE ALL THE GOOD THINGS THAT YOU WOULD WANT IN A MODERN GARAGE. UH, WE STILL HAVE CHALLENGES. UM, WE DEAL WITH EMPLOYEES, ESPECIALLY B ONE, B TWO. WE, WE DEAL WITH MOSTLY EMPLOYEES IN THOSE GARAGE. [03:00:01] THEY HAVE VERY LIMITED TRANSIENT ACTIVITY DURING THE DAY JUST BECAUSE THE NATURE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DOWN IN THOSE GARAGES, WE DON'T WANT TO MIX IT WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC. UH, THE GENERAL PUBLIC GOES TO THE EAST AND WEST GARAGES, WHICH ARE VERY ACTIVE AND VERY BUSY. UM, IN, IN THOSE DURING EVENTS, WE DO TURN THOSE GARAGES OVER TO A VEGAR GARAGES. AND I WILL SAY THIS, ALL THE RULES AND REGULATIONS THAT WE FOLLOW HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED BY TRINA AND HER DEPARTMENT. WE DON'T ESTABLISH ANY RULES WITHOUT FIRST GOING THROUGH THEM GETTING APPROVAL AND THEN IMPLEMENTING THOSE RULES AND REGULATIONS. AND WE ARE VERY BY IT. IF TRINA ASKED ME TO DO SOMETHING, I ALWAYS SAY, IS IT SOMETHING MEASURABLE THAT MY GUYS DON'T HAVE ANY WIGGLE ROOM TO MAKE THEIR OWN JUDGMENT CALL? SO SOMETIMES THAT'S NOT ALWAYS THE BEST THING, BUT IT'S THE ONLY WAY WE CAN SECURE YOUR REVENUE. AND MY MAIN OBJECTIVE HERE BEING IN BATON ROUGE WAS TAKE A FACILITY THAT WAS NOT FUNCTIONING AT A LEVEL OF THE COMMERCIAL SIDE OF PARKING TO WHERE IT WAS GENERATING REVENUE. AND I'M A BIG BELIEVER OF THE USERS IN THE GARAGE NEED TO PAY FOR THAT GARAGE. NOT TAXPAYERS, NOT ANYBODY ELSE, THE USERS. AND THAT'S EITHER BY THE RATES YOU CHARGE AND EVERYTHING ELSE. SO I THINK WE'VE DONE A GOOD JOB OF THAT. WE WENT FROM A NEGATIVE TO A POSITIVE, AND WE STILL THINK THERE'S ROOM TO GROW. THERE'S PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY AND POTENTIAL HERE IN THIS SYSTEM. SO, THAT'S MY QUICK SPELL. I KNOW THIS MAY BE SOME QUESTIONS FOR THE PARKING. THANK YOU. COUNCILMAN MO? YES. UH, COUPLE QUESTIONS. WELL, UH, ISSUES QUESTIONS. MM-HMM. , UM, Y'ALL ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EVENT DAYS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? YOU SAID YOU TURNED IT OVER TO SOMEONE ELSE? NO, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVENT DAYS. OKAY. SO LET'S ASSUME, UH, A CERTAIN BODY IS PAYING X AMOUNT OF DOLLARS PER OUNCE FOR THEIR PARKING SPOT AND IT HAPPENS TO HAVE THEIR NAME IN FRONT OF IT. SO ARE THEY ALLOWED TO GO TO THAT PARKING SPOT DURING AN EVENT? AND IF NOT, WHY NOT? YEAH. WHEN THIS WAS TRANSITIONED OVER TO, UM, THE LAWS MANAGEMENT GROUP AS A REVENUE SOURCE, WE HA IF WE FACTORED IN EVENTS, UM, THE DAILY PARKERS, UM, WE SENT YOU GUYS, UM, A DOCUMENT THAT INDICATED WHAT THE FEES ARE FOR LAWS PARKING AND THE DAILY RATES THAT WE CHARGE ARE BELOW WHAT WE HAVE TO PAY LAWS BECAUSE THE ADMINISTRATION DIDN'T WANT TO GO UP ON THE EMPLOYEE. SO WHAT WE PAY TO LAWS DOES NOT COVER THE COST BASED ON WHAT AN EMPLOYEE PAYS. AN EMPLOYEE PAYS $1 A DAY. SO WHEN YOU SEE $20 THAT'S COMING OUTTA SOMEONE'S PAY, THEY'RE ONLY PAYING $1 PER DAY. SO WHEN WE FACTORED IN THE RULES FOR PARKING, IT WAS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO USE THOSE SPACES FOR EVENT PARKING CHARGE $10 OR $20 JUST DEPENDING ON WHAT, UM, PARKING GARAGE IT IS, AND GENERATE THE REVENUE FOR MAINTENANCE. UM, UPKEEP THE LAWS, CONTRACT ANY INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS BECAUSE THE PARKING GARAGE IS SELF-GENERATING REVENUE. IT'S NOT SUBSIDIZED BY GENERAL FUND IS THE REVENUE IS WHAT COVERS THE GARAGE. THAT GARAGE HAS SEVERAL NEEDS. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE, UM, THE STAIRCASES, THERE ARE MANY STAIRCASES THAT'S CLOSED RIGHT NOW THAT WE NEED TO GENERATE THAT FUND THOSE FUNDS IN ORDER TO COVER. SO WHEN, WHEN THE RULES WERE PUT IN PLACE WHEN WE TRANSITIONED, IT WAS BASED ON, UM, THEM USING THAT THO THOSE SPACES DURING THE DAY, DURING THEIR DAY, THEIR WORK HOURS AFTER WORK HOURS. AND I'LL, I'LL JUST JUMP TO ANOTHER THING AND I'LL TELL YOU, I, I HAD TO RUN IN WITH THEM AND I BASICALLY TOLD 'EM IF THEY WANTED TO STOP ME, JUST FOLLOW ME DOWN TO MY PARKING SPOT, . AND THEY'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION AT THE CAR WHILE I'M UNLOADING EVERYTHING AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. I MEAN, WE COME DOWN FOR, YOU KNOW, THERE MIGHT BE AN EVENT GOING ON, BUT WE MAY BE COMING DOWN FOR OUR OFFICIAL CAPACITY, YOU KNOW, AND I EXPECT TO, YOU KNOW, I PAY IT, I STILL PAY MY 20 BUCKS A MONTH. YES. IT MAY NOT COVER, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER, OR HOWEVER MUCH I'M DOWN HERE, BUT I DO PAY MY 20 BUCKS A MONTH. MM-HMM. , UH, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE AN OPTION, YOU HAVE AN OPTION NOT TO DO IT DIFFERENT WAY. MM-HMM. . BUT, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, I JUST FEEL LIKE SOME OF THE SPOTS NEED TO BE LOOKED AT A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY ON THE FACT OF, AGAIN, YES, THERE MIGHT BE AN EVENT GOING ON, BUT WE MIGHT BE COMING DOWN FOR AN OFFICIAL CAPACITY. [03:05:01] AND I, WHEN I COME, WHEN I COME TO DO THOSE TYPE OF THINGS, I'M HEADED STRAIGHT FOR THIS SPOT, YOU KNOW, ONE FLOOR UNDERNEATH. AND I, I JUST, LIKE I SAID, I, YOU HEAR PRESENTING, I HAD A ISSUE WITH THAT. UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT UP. AND MAYBE SOMETHING ELSE, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO DO OR SOMETHING TO LOOK INTO. WELL, I'LL SPEAK TO THAT. UM, WHEN IT COMES TO OFFICIAL CAPACITY, WE HAVE EMPLOYEES THAT COME IN AND WORK ON SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS THAT IS COMMUNICATED TO THE PARKING GARAGE MANAGEMENT GROUP. UM, SO NORMALLY IF THEY KNOW THAT THEIR TEAM IS GONNA BE HERE, THEY COMMUNICATE THAT INFORMATION TO THE PARK AND MANAGEMENT GROUP. IF WE, IF YOU'RE GONNA BE HERE FOR OFFICIAL CAPACITY AND FOR WORKING, IT'S NO PROBLEM. IT, WE JUST NEED TO BE NOTIFIED BECAUSE IT EXTENDS TO YOUR WORK. BUT IF YOU'RE COMING HERE FOR AN, UM, FOR SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF THAT, AND EVEN AT THE RIVER CENTER, YOU'RE GOING DOWNTOWN TO A RESTAURANT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THAT'S NOT OFFICIAL CAPACITY. SO YES, IT CAN BE, IT CAN BE FOR MEETINGS. FOR MEETINGS OR ANYTHING ELSE. WELL, IF IT, IF IT IS, IF IT IS, WHAT, WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS NEEDS TO BE COMMUNICATED. WHAT, WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS YOU, YOU WANT TO BE NOTIFIED. BUT IF I GET A CALL FROM SOMEONE THAT SAYS, AND SOMETHING'S GOING ON HERE, AND I GET A CALL THAT SAYS, HEY, BEAT ME DOWN HERE. I NEED TO MEET WITH YOU ABOUT A CERTAIN THING AND WE'RE GONNA MEET OVER AT, UH, ACROSS THE STREET AT CHUY'S OR, OR SOMEWHERE ELSE, OR WE'RE GONNA MEET IN ONE OF THE COMPLEXES. I COME DOWN HERE, UH, TO MEET WITH THESE PEOPLE AND I GOTTA SPEND 45 MINUTES LOOKING FOR A PARKING SPOT. NO, THAT'S STILL DOWN A PROBLEM. IT'S JUST MATTER. I MEAN, WHAT I'M SAYING IS IF YOU OPEN UP THAT CERTAIN AREA, LET'S SAY I'M GOING USE B ONE FOR EXAMPLE. OKAY. IF YOU OPEN UP THAT CERTAINTY, GENERAL PUBLIC AS FAR AS THE WHOLE FACILITY MM-HMM. , THE WHOLE FACILITY. AND I UNDERSTAND OUR SECTION AND THE MAYORS IS RIGHT DOWN IN A CERTAIN AREA. BUT IF YOU OPEN UP THE WHOLE FACILITY AND I DRIVE UNDERNEATH THERE AND IT'S LIKE I HAVE NOWHERE TO PARK AND I'M SUPPOSED TO BE AT THIS MEETING, AND LIKE I SAID, IT'S JUST, UH, SOMETHING TO LOOK AT. THINK ABOUT WHETHER WE NEED TO CHANGE IT. WHETHER WE NEED TO MAKE AN, UH, SOMETHING OR WHATEVER. BECAUSE AGAIN, WE WILL COME DOWN FOR EVENTS MM-HMM. OR MEETINGS ON EVENT DAYS OR DIFFERENT THINGS. AND WE WERE TOLD THAT YES, IF YOU PULL UP TO THE FRONT THING AND THERE'S SOMEBODY OUT THERE TELLING 'EM YOU'RE HERE WORKING OR WHATEVER, WELL I, YOU KNOW, I MIGHT BE HERE WORKING, THEN I'M, YOU KNOW, I MIGHT BE WORKING. THAT DOESN'T MATTER. THEN DOESN AND IT JUST LOOKS BAD TO ME. SPOTS ARE AVAILABLE. CAUSE I DON'T THINK THOSE PEOPLE PARK IN THE I I'LL THERE. I KNOW WE GOTTA GET ON ANY OTHER REPORTS. ALL I JUST WANNA MAKE YOU AWARE OF IT, BUT I, I CAN ATTEST TO THE FACT THAT I WORK WITH HIM. SPEAKING OF MIKE, PLEASE, I MAKE NO, I'M SORRY. I MAKE IT KNOWN TO HIM. WE'RE NOT GONNA STOP YOU IF YOU SAY, UM, I'M WORKING, WE'RE NOT GONNA PHYSICALLY STOP YOU. YOU JUST SCAN THE BADGE AND WE'LL, YOU'LL PROCESS IN MOST OF THE TIME WE JUST LET B TWO B2 HAS 230. I ALWAYS KEEP TWO 20 OR TWO 10. I ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT IT'S ALWAYS AVAILABLE, AVAILABLE SPOTS. OKAY. I, AND I APPRECIATE IT. LIKE I SAID, I JUST, IT WAS A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH ME. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY, ALL WERE HERE. I JUST WANTED TO EXPRESS A CONCERN. UM, FROM MY STANDPOINT, I'M NOT SPEAKING FOR THE REST OF THE COUNCIL, BUT COUNSEL, AND ALSO IT IS, IT'S YOUR PLEASURE. IF, IF YOU WANT TO, UM, LOOK AT THE ORDINANCE AND WE MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS, IT'S YOUR PLEASURE. UM, ABSOLUTELY. COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN, YES. THANK YOU FOR THAT PERMISSION FOR US TO LOOK AT AN ORDINANCE. AND LET ME TELL YOU THAT THAT'S NOT TRUTH, UH, RENEE, THAT YOU ALL DON'T STOP ANYBODY. I CAME THROUGH WITH MY BADGE. THERE WAS A GENTLEMAN OUT THERE AS WE WERE COMING THROUGH, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE GENTLEMAN AND I HAD MY BADGE AND WAVED IT. AND SO THE GENTLEMAN PUT HIS HAND UP AND I'M SO GRATEFUL THAT WAS A GOOD DAY OF MINE. YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? BECAUSE I'M TELLING YOU MODERNIZED AND YES, IT DOES NEED SOME MORE HELP, BUT EVEN EMPLOYEES, THAT'S MY CONCERN. [03:10:01] THE EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY, IF THEY COME IN, IF THEY STAY OVER, I AM TOLD THAT THEY MUST PAY. YOU ALL SENT ME A LETTER AFTER THAT VERY TIME I CAME IN ASKING ME WHEN I WAS GOING TO PAY THEM EXTRA $10 FOR COMING IN. AND I SAY NEVER. AND SO WHAT I'M SAYING, WE HAVE EMPLOYER, I HAVE THE LETTERS. YEAH, I HAVE THE LETTERS. I SENT YOU AN EMAIL. GO, GO, GO, GO, GO. ONE EMPLOYEE. YOU SHOWED ME A STACK OF THOSE TALKING ABOUT YOU GOTTA PAY $10, YOU GOTTA PAY $10 OUT OF ORDER. HERE IT IS. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EMPLOYEES. OUR EMPLOYEES. SO I RECOMMEND AND COUNSEL, I RECOMMEND AND SEE I'M HERE WORKING. IF I COME IN HERE AND I COME HERE TO DO WHATSOEVER, I DON'T HAVE TO CALL TO SAY, HEY, I'M COMING IN AND I NEED YOU ALL TO PUT A STAMP ON ME. NO, INDEED. I REPRESENT, FIRST OF ALL, AND I'M SPEAKING FOR MYSELF. I REPRESENT 10 AND I AM NOT GOING TO PAY EXTRA TO COME DOWN HERE. IF I NEED TO COME DOWN HERE AND MEET WITH SOMEONE, COME DOWN HERE. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S LIVE AFTER FIVE. I REPRESENT 10, DISTRICT 10. AND SO THIS IS OUT OF ORDER AND I'M GONNA TELL Y'ALL, DON'T SEND ME ANOTHER LETTER, BUT I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES BEING PENALIZED FOR BEING DECENT EMPLOYEES WITH GOOD WORK ETHICS COMING DOWN HERE TO WORK AND THEN YOU ALL PENALIZE THEM FOR WORKING. OKAY, MA'AM. THE EMPLOYEES DO NOTMAN. OKAY. UM, EMPLOYEES DO COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN. UM, WHEN EMPLOYEES COME DOWN TO WORK, THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED TO PL TO PAY. THEY'RE NOT. AND IF THEY, IF THEY ARE SAYING THAT THEY'RE REQUIRED TO WORK WHEN PAY WHEN THEY WORK, THAT'S NOT TRUE. THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT COMES HERE ON THE WEEKENDS AND THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY. THEY COME HERE ALMOST EVERY WEEKEND AND WORK. THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY BECAUSE WE FINANCE. MAYBE YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY, ARE YOU, ARE YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY? BUT I CAN TELL YOU OTHER ENTITIES ARE SO FINANCE YOU WANNA SPEAK TO THIS BECAUSE THIS HAS TO STOP. AND ALSO IF THERE'S ANY CHANGES THAT NEED TO BE MADE, THEY CAN BE DONE IN THE ORDINANCE BECAUSE THE ORDINANCE DOES NOT. THANK YOU. YOUR PERMISSION. COME FINANCE. MA'AM, I'M ASKING YOU FINANCE A QUESTION. I'M STILL ON MY TIME. COME FINANCE. OKAY. YOU GOT IT. YES MA'AM. I HAVE A LOT OF ACCOUNTING EMPLOYEES THAT WORK IN THE SPRING AND A LOT OF BUDGETING EMPLOYEES THAT WORK IN THE FALL. AND WHAT WE DO IS I SEND A, UM, AN EMAIL TO TRINA AND TO THE GARAGE AND I SAY WHICH EMPLOYEES ARE GONNA BE WORKING ON THE WEEKENDS. AND THEN WHEN THEY COME, THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NOT A SE FEE. OKAY. OKAY. SO THOSE ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES? YES MA'AM. BUT THAT'S NOT UNIFORM FOR ALL EMPLOYEES. I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MARKS. THAT'S CORRECT. YES, MA'AM. THANK YOU, MA'AM. CAN, CAN I SPEAK TO THAT REAL QUICK? SECOND ONE SECOND. COUNCIL MEMBER, THAT'S YOUR TIME. WE GONNA MOVE TO COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS, COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. IF I CAN JUST RESPOND REAL QUICK. WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT SIR. MM-HMM. COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS IS GONNA GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND COUNCIL MEMBER BANKS. BUT ANYWAY, UM, YES. SO FOR ME, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, TRINA ALLUDED TO IS THE $1, AND I UNDERSTAND $20 BASED ON EMPLOYEES WORKING FIVE DAYS A WEEK MM-HMM. , UM, ON AN AVERAGE OF 20 DAYS A MONTH. BUT FOR ME, I'M PAYING THE $20 AND I, I I, I DON'T WANT TO PAY IT AT ALL. BUT, YOU KNOW, BUT THE, I STILL HAVE TO PAY, BUT I'M ONLY HERE FOUR DAYS OUT OF THE MONTH. YEAH. AND SO IF WE ARE GOING TO, UM, NITPICK ABOUT THOSE THINGS THAT I NEED A CREDIT EVERY MONTH, UM, BECAUSE I'M ONLY GETTING, I'M PAYING $20 AND I'M GETTING $4, I WOULD SAY THIS IS NOT TYPICALLY HOW WE RUN OUR GARAGES. EVERYBODY. SO WHAT IS EVERYBODY, HOW DO Y'ALL USUALLY DO? TYPICALLY, EVERYBODY. FIRST, EVERYBODY BE PAYING MARKET RATE. WHAT IS MARKET RATE? MARKET RATE IS THE RATE THAT TYPICALLY THE SURROUNDING GARAGES [03:15:01] PAY FOR THEIR PARKING. AND WHEN, WHEN YOU HAVE A SITUATION LIKE THAT MM-HMM. , THEN IF THERE'S AN EVENT, THEY CAN HAVE AS MUCH PARKING AS YOU WANT BECAUSE THEN THEY HAVE ACCESS INTO THE GARAGE. MM-HMM. , THE MARKET RATE HERE IS AROUND 50 TO $60. AND THEN WE DO HAVE PEOPLE IN THERE 50 TO $60. BUT THE CITY, AND LIKE I SAID, I FOLLOW THE RULES THAT I'VE BEEN GIVEN. YEAH. OKAY. SO IN THE END TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE, AND YOU, AND YOU HAVE EMPLOYEES, WE, AND I, I PROMISE YOU WE HAVE EMPLOYEES, WE'RE NOT GONNA STOP 'EM. WE'RE GONNA LEARN BADGE IN. AND THEN WHAT WE CAN DO THROUGH OUR SYSTEM IS FIND THE NAMES OF THOSE PEOPLE AND CHECK WITH THE PEOPLE HEADS OF THEIR DEPARTMENT AND CHECK AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE THERE ON CITY BUSINESS. WE DON'T WANNA CHARGE THEM IF THEY'RE WORKING. OKAY. IT'S NOT A PRACTICE OF OURS. YEAH. SO I THINK PART OF THE ISSUE, FIRST OF ALL IS WE'RE ELECTED OFFICIALS. MM-HMM. AND AS ELECTED OFFICIALS, WE ARE, WE ALSO HAVE A DUAL, UM, RESPONSIBILITY VIEW IT TO BE AMBASSADORS FOR OUR CITY PARISH. SO, UM, THE JUST, YOU KNOW, IN MANY TIMES, YOU KNOW, COMING DOWN AND SHOWING THAT WE ARE SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY, YES, WE COULD HAVE FUN, BUT STILL THAT IS PART OF BEING AN AMBASSADOR, UM, FOR YOUR CITY. NOW, MY BIGGEST PROBLEM IS I LOSE MY BADGE EVERY OTHER MONTH AND I CANNOT GET ANYBODY ON THE, ON THE PHONE. UM, SO TELL ME ABOUT HOW THAT WORKS. UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THE OTHER YOUNG LADY, I CAN NEVER GET ANYBODY ON THE PHONE. GOOD, GOOD. YEAH. YOU WORK WITH KYLE . KYLE ALLGOOD. WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR PHONE, KYLE ALLGOOD IS THE ONE WHO, WHO DOES YOUR BADGE. YOU HAVE IT ON YOUR BADGE, SO IT MAKES IT EASIER TO GET IT TO YOU ON YOUR BADGE. SO YOU'RE SAYING CALL KIM TO LET ME OUT THE GARAGE. WELL, WHAT HE DOES IS HE MAKES YOU ANOTHER BADGE AND IT MAKES IT TOO, THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM THAT THEY UH, I GET A NEW BADGE EVERY OTHER WEEK. YEAH, WELL THAT'S YOUR PARK. YOUR PARKING'S ON THERE TOO. WHAT? UH, MY PARKING. WHAT? YOUR PARKING IS ON YOUR BADGE. I KNOW, BUT WHAT I'M SAYING IS IF IT'S LOST AND I'M TRYING TO GET EITHER IN OR OUT FOR ONE OF THOSE HUNDREDS. YEAH, YOU CAN CALL OR PRESS THE BUTTON. NOBODY ANSWER. THAT'S WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. OH. WHEN YOU PRESS THE BUTTON THAT GOES TO A CALL CENTER. CALL CENTER USUALLY CALLS ME AND THEN I CAN LET YOU OUT. SO DON'T YOU THINK THAT'S KIND OF LONG? A LOT? I MEAN, IT IS. I MEAN, WE ARE HERE ALREADY 8 36 MM-HMM. . AND SO, UM, BY THE TIME WE LEAVE 9, 9 30 YEAH, I'M READY TO GO CUZ I'VE BEEN HERE SINCE TWO. MM-HMM. , WHY IS IT THAT WE CAN'T JUST CALL THE CALL CENTER AND THEY WILL LET YOU OUT ALSO, AND I CAN LET YOU OUT, BUT I DO IT OVER THE PHONE. YEAH, I KNOW. OH, I THOUGHT SHE SAID THAT. WHY DON'T THEY JUST LET ME OUT? THEY CAN IF THEY, MOST OF THE TIME IT GOES TO ME UNTIL A CERTAIN, UH, TIME AT NIGHT AND THEN WHAT TIME AT NIGHT DOES IT? NINE O'CLOCK. BUT THEY WILL CALL ME AT 11. SO WHAT I'M SAYING IS, SO AS SOON AS WE CALL THAT NUMBER YOUR, SO IT CONNECTS TO ME, IT DOESN'T CONNECT TO THE CALL CENTER, IT GOES TO THE CALL CENTER, THEY CONNECT TO ME AND THEN I SAY I'M OPENING IT UP. SO THE CALL CENTER, I'M, I'M CONFUSED. SO, SO WE HAVE A CALL CENTER THAT ANSWERS THE, THE INTERCOM CAN, CAN THEY JUST GO AHEAD AND LET ME OUT WITHOUT CONTACT? YES, THEY CAN. AND WE, WHAT WE HAVE TO DO, A LOT OF THE THINGS, THE RULES WE SET ARE, SO WE DON'T HAVE LOOPHOLES OF LOSS REVENUE. OKAY. OKAY. LOSS REVENUE WOULD, COULD EASILY TAKE OFF 20 TO 30% OF YOUR REVENUE. OKAY. AND THEN WE'RE GONNA BE OUTTA DEFICIT. SO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT REALLY 12 OF US. CORRECT. HOW AND I, I CAN DO THAT IN A HEARTBEAT. THAT'S ALL WE, AND LIKE I SAID, THAT'S A SMART ISSUE. I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT. LIKE I SAID, MORE OF IT WE'VE BEEN GIVING DIRECTION YEAH. OF HOW TO OPERATE. SO I THINK I, I, YOU KNOW, AS SOON I IMMEDIATELY SAID TRINA IS THE PROBLEM, BUT NOT IN A BAD WAY. SHE, SHE'S NOT, SHE'S NOT IN A BAD WAY. NO. SHE'S TRYING TO MAKE MONEY. I DIDN'T THINK, YOU KNOW, I, I DIDN'T KNOW ALL THE, THAT EVERYBODY WAS HAVING THE DIFFICULTY, BUT WHEN I HEARD THAT THE VP WAS THERE, I SAID, HE'S BEEN SUMMONED. AND WHEN YOU MADE YOUR INITIAL COMMENTS MM-HMM. , IT WAS OBVIOUS YOU WERE JUST DOING WHAT YOU WERE TOLD. BUT I DO THINK THAT, UM, PERSONS IN CITY, PARISH, GOVERNMENT, ESPECIALLY SEASONED EMPLOYEE, ARE SHOULD KNOW BETTER. UH, NOT TO MAKE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS, ELECTED OFFICIALS TO HAVE A CUMBERSOME WAY TO DO THEIR JOB BECAUSE WE GET PAID HARDLY NOTHING. . AND IT IS A 24 HOUR JOB. MM-HMM. , UH, JUST THAT, UM, AS COUNCILMAN MOK SAID, WE, WE ARE, IF WE ARE DOWN HERE, COUNCILMAN THE TIME. NO, IT IS GONNA BE TWO SECONDS. WE'RE DOWN HERE AND ONE, TWO, IS ABLE TO GET, GO TO A LUNCH OR PLACES DOWN HERE? FINE. I, I, I, I, I CAN, I TOTALLY AGREE. WE'RE VERY CEREMONIAL. MM-HMM. . YEAH. GIVE MY TIME. WE ARE VERY CEREMONIAL IN BATON ROUGET. SO ALMOST [03:20:01] EVERY CONCERT, SOMEBODY WANT TO GIVE A CERTIFICATE AND DEPENDING ON WHO IT IS, THEY MAY WANT TO GIVE THE, UM, WHAT IS IT, UM, KEY TO THE CITY. MM-HMM. , WE PARTNERED WITH THE DIFFERENT AGENTS. YEP. SO WHEN WE ARE HERE, IT IS ALIVE. WE, WE CAN ACCOMMODATE ANY, ANY REQUEST. IT ISN'T LIKE WE'RE TRYING TO HOLD A CAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE NOT, BUT NOW TRINA KNOWS NOT TO COUNSEL. NO. LIKE I SAID, WE WILL DO WHATEVER WE HAVE TO TO MAKE. YOU ARE COUNCIL MEMBER. COUNCIL MEMBER HUDSON. I'M GONNA GIVE JUST A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. MM-HMM. . UM, I WILL JUST SAY THAT, UH, I, I RECOGNIZE THERE WERE SOME INITIAL PROBLEMS. I APPRECIATE THE DEPARTMENT GOING THROUGH AND, AND MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THAT. UH, YOU CAN SELL THAT DISTRICT NINE SLOT 10 TIMES OVER. I DON'T USE IT DURING THE WEEK. YOU CAN SELL IT DURING THE WEEK. MAKE AS MUCH MONEY FOR THE TAXPAYERS AS YOU CAN SO THAT WE CAN FUND THE THINGS IN THIS PARISH THAT WE NEED TO. UM, I, I DON'T CARE ABOUT PARKING FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND ALL THAT. UH, THERE ARE SOME WAYS TO FACILITATE IT THAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN. AND Y'ALL DID THAT. GO MAKE THAT MONEY. THANK YOU . COUNCIL MEMBERS BEFORE I GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKA, PLEASE. WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY [151. 23-00259] ITEM 1 51 ADMITTING THE REENACTING ORDINANCE 1868, WHICH ESTABLISHED VOTING PRECINCTS WITHIN WARS ONE, TWO, AND THREE, SPAR PARISH AND DESIGNATING POLLING PLACES THAT'S CHANGE THE STREET NAME OF THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC LOCATION. WARD ONE PRECINCT 51 FROM EAST WASHINGTON STREET TO LAURIE BIRDERS AVENUE. SO AS TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE FOLLOWING POLAND LOCATIONS. WARD ONE, PRECINCTS 85 85 B FROM JK HANS MIDDLE SCHOOL, TORE HALL PLACE, JIM WARD TWO IN PRECINCTS 12 A AND 12 B FROM BROWNSVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO FOSTER ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH, AND THE REESTABLISHED DESIGNATED POLAND LOCATION FOR ALL THE OTHER PRECINCTS WITHIN THE PARISH TO EAST BEON ROUGE BY REGISTER OF VOTERS. THE REASON FOR EMERGENCY TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE A CHANGE IN ADVANCE OF THE MARCH ELECTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ORDINANCE 1 6 4 42. THIS ITEM MUST BE DECLARED EMERGENCY BY TWO-THIRDS OF METROPOLITAN COUNCILORS. IS THERE A MOTION TO DECLARE? SO MOVED BY BANK, SECONDED BY ROCKER. IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION? YES. ONE ORDER. MR. PRO, IF WE'RE PAST THE TIME, DOES THIS EVEN STAND? WE'RE NOT PAST THE TIME. WE'RE NOT PAST. WE GOT SEVEN MINUTES WHEN WE STARTED EIGHT. WE STARTED AT 8 48. FOUR 18, SORRY. ALRIGHT, PROCEED. IS ANYONE HERE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE ITEM? MOTION TO APPROVE OUR BANK. SECONDED BY ROCKER. WE NOW GO BACK TO ONE. [150. 23-00215 (Part 2 of 2)] NOW GO BACK TO ONE 50. COUNCIL MEMBER ROCKER. OKAY. SO MY CONCERN WITH THE PARKING GARAGE, UM, IT, IT'S NOT TO HAVE YOU GUYS IN HERE TO BEAT YOU UP, BUT I AM A LITTLE WORRIED ABOUT HOW OUR EMPLOYEES ARE BEING HANDLED THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. I CAN TELL YOU EARLY ON MY EXPERIENCE MM-HMM. , UM, I CAME IN AS A COUNCILPERSON WHERE THE GATE WAS OPEN. UM, I HAD NOT RECEIVED MY NEW CARD YET. I GOT TO MY PARKING SPOT THAT HAD MY NAME ON IT AND AN EMPLOYEE CAME TO MY DOOR, WOULD NOT LET ME OUT OF MY CAR AND TOLD ME TO LEAVE THE GARAGE WHEN I TOLD THAT PERSON THAT I AM A COUNSEL PERSON. I DON'T WANT ANY SPECIAL TREATMENT, BUT MY AIDE IS WALKING DOWNSTAIRS RIGHT NOW WITH MY, WITH MY, UH, CARD AND I CAN SHOW IT TO YOU. SHE REFUSED TO LET ME OUT OF MY CAR, REFUSED TO LET ME MOVE AND MADE ME LEAVE THE GARAGE. LUCKILY AT THAT TIME, SHE, LIKE WITH COUNCILWOMAN, CAROLYN, CAROLYN COLEMAN CAUGHT ME IN A REALLY GOOD MOOD AND AS A REALLY NICE COUNCIL PERSON AT THAT POINT IN MY CAREER. UM, SO I EXITED THE BUILDING AND UM, EXITED THE BUILDING, THE PARKING GARAGE AND SAT THERE. SO MY CONCERN IS IF THEY ARE DOING THAT TO PEOPLE THAT HAVE THEIR NAMES ON THE WALL, WHICH WE SHOULDN'T RECEIVE ANY SPECIAL BENEFIT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT MM-HMM. , HOW ARE THEY HANDLING OUR EMPLOYEES ON, ON A REGULAR? AND, AND I DON'T WANT A RESPONSE. I DON'T NEED A RESPONSE. MM-HMM. , I JUST WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT THAT HAPPENED TO US AND THAT THAT HAS OCCURRED TO US AND IT'S JUST, I WOULD JUST TAKE NOTE AND POTENTIALLY CHANGE SOME OF, SOME OF THAT ATTITUDE AND SOME OF THAT TREATMENT TO FOLKS THAT ARE ENTERING AND EXITING THAT GARAGE. THANK YOU. AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT B ONE AND B TWO, CORRECT? COUNCILMAN? YES SIR. HONOR, COUNCILMAN DUN. COUPLE QUICK THINGS. FIRST I WANT TO SHARE WITH MY COLLEAGUES THAT WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE VERY EARLY ON WHEN WE GOT ON THE COUNCIL, UH, VIA ORDINANCE. UH, I KNOW, UH, TRINA HAS MENTIONED THE ORDINANCE, BUT I BROUGHT A IT, UH, ITEM TO ADDRESS MANY OF THESE CONCERNS. IF WE NEED TO BRING THIS ITEM BACK AND ADDRESS, UH, MUCH BROADER CONCERNS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE BROUGHT, I SUGGEST AND RECOMMEND THAT WE DO THAT. UM, ON A LARGER SCALE, I UNDERSTAND OUTSOURCING, I KNOW WHY WE DO IT AND I SUPPORT OUR OUTSOURCING ON, ON SOME LEVEL. I UNDERSTAND THAT IT HELPS REDUCE THE LEGACY COSTS WITH, WITH THINGS THAT WE HAVE WITHIN CITY PARISH GOVERNMENT. I QUESTION [03:25:01] IS IF, IF THIS A SERVICE THAT WE NEEDED TO OUTSOURCE, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE IT TAKE THE MAN UH, PARKING GARAGE, BUT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS THE COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS, THE OUTSOURCING THIS VERSUS HAVING TWO OR THREE CITY PARISH EMPLOYEES AND KEEP ALL THE DOLLARS IN HOUSE VERSUS HAVING TO PAY A, A, A VENDOR OR CONTRACTOR? SOME OF THE DOLLARS. WELL, UM, THE, ACTUALLY THE COST OF SALARIES AND BENEFITS PRETTY MUCH WERE NOT MUCH OF A VARIANCE BETWEEN, UM, GETTING A CONTRACTOR AND KEEPING THOSE EMPLOYEES. BUT WE'VE ALSO HAD TO, UM, REPLACE SOME EQUIPMENT CUZ THE, THE PARKING METERS THAT'S GOING ON THE STREETS AS WELL AS THE EQUIPMENT THAT'S BEEN REPLACED IN THE GARAGES WAS FUNDED BY THE FUND BALANCE FOR THAT, THE GARAGE ACCOUNT. UM, NOW IT HAS TO BE REPLENISHED AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE HAVE TO MAKE MONEY. AND THIS YEAR IS THE FIRST YEAR WE'VE MADE MONEY SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE. I'VE BEEN HERE ALMOST NINE YEARS. AND SO, AND THAT'S BEEN SINCE THE, UM, OF COURSE, LIKE I SAID, SINCE THEY'VE CONTRACTED OUT, UM, IN 2020 WE DIDN'T SEE MUCH OF A CHANGE BECAUSE IT WAS COVID 21, SAME THING, BUT 20, UM, TWO, WE DID SEE, UM, A $1.2 MILLION REVENUE NUMBER. AND LOOK, I KNOW WE DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF TIME, SO COULD YOU JUST GET ME, UH, US A REPORT ON, ON THE COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS SURE. THE EXPENDITURES AND THE, THE PERFORMERS OF THE PARKING GARAGE AS WE OUTSOURCED. SURE. THANK YOU. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THE TIME NOW IS 1 46. I MEAN, EXCUSE ME. 8 46. WE HAVE TWO MINUTES LEFT. THANK YOU FOR THE REPORT WITH THE REMAINING TWO MINUTES. ASHLEY, I WANT YOU TO EXPLAIN FOR THE PUBLIC THE RULES SURROUNDING OUR MEETING TIMES. UH, THE MEETING OUR MEETINGS. UM, CAN LA ONLY LAST FOR FOUR HOURS? UM, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF WHEN A UNANIMOUS MOTION IS MADE AND APPROVED TO EXTEND THE MEETING BY 30 MINUTES, THE 30 MINUTE EXTENSION WILL EXPIRE AT 8:48 PM UM, ANY ITEMS THAT ARE NOT HEARD AUTOMATICALLY APPEAR ON THE NEXT MEETING'S AGENDA. SO ON THE NEXT MEETING'S AGENDA, WE'RE GONNA BEGIN WITH ITEM 1 49, WHICH IS TURNKEY HEALTH ON THE PUBLIC HEARING, AND THEN THE REPORT FROM THE ALCOHOL, BEVERAGE AND CONTROL, AND THEN THE REPORT FROM THE TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE. THOSE WILL BE THE FIRST THREE ITEMS ON OUR PUBLIC AGENDA. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO CAME OUT FOR THOSE ITEMS THIS EVENING, WE SINCERELY APOLOGIZE. WE WEREN'T ABLE TO GET TO THEM, BUT I WOULD IMPLORE YOU TALK TO YOUR COUNCIL PERSONS WHO TALK A LOT ON THE COUNCIL AND PERHAPS WE CAN GET THROUGH THE AGENDA. POINT OF POINT OF CLARIFICATION. ACTUALLY, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY THE, THE, THE TIME WAS NOT EIGHT 30 AND IT WAS, OH, WE BEGAN THE MEETING. I MADE A NOTE ON MY AGENDA. WE BEGAN THE MEETING AT 4:18 PM BY MY WATCH. AND THAT'S ANOTHER, UH, THANK YOU. I ON A, ON A GOOD NOTE. WE'LL SEE THE Q DOCTOR AGAIN NEXT TWO WEEKS. NO, WE WON'T. WE WON'T. OH, WE WON'T. WHY? WE, WE FLEW IN SEVEN INDIVIDUALS TO PRESENT. WE WERE TOLD TO BE HERE AT FOUR O'CLOCK. OKAY. UNLESS THE COUNCIL WANTS TO REIMBURSE US ABOUT $20,000 AND TRANSPORTATION, PLEASE, WE WILL NOT BE BACK. WE CAN'T. I KNOW. I'M GONNA BE VERY HONEST. I THINK YOU OUGHT TO REEVALUATE MAKING A STATEMENT LIKE THAT TO THIS COUNCIL ABOUT WHAT YOU WILL AND WHAT YOU WON'T DO WHEN WE GIVE YOU A CONTRACT TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR US. NOW, I KNOW YOU FRUSTRATED ABOUT WHAT TOOK PLACE, BUT WE HAVE OTHER BUSINESS THAT NEEDED TO BE ATTENDED TO. SO NO, DON'T TELL ME WHAT YOU WILL AND WHAT YOU WON'T DO. ALL RIGHT? EITHER YOU WILL OR YOU WON'T. AND THEN WE WILL MAKE SOME DECISIONS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT WE CHOOSE TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU AT THE END OF THE DAY. I WILL SAY AT THE END OF THE DAY, IS THERE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? MOTION. MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING ROOM, ADJOURN. CAUSE WE HAVE ON THERE READ TO YOUR CHILDREN. YES. AND WHEN YOU'RE DONE READING THEM, HAVE THEM READ BACK TO YOU. HAVE A GOOD EVENING. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.