City Council

MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING TOWN HALL MEETING ROOM 112 W. ALABAMA AVE. VIVIAN, LOUISIANA MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 6:00 PM CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Festavan called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. INVOCATION - Rev. Ricky Jeane, Vivian United Pentecostal Church Pastor, opened the meeting in prayer. PLEDGE - Mayor Festavan led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance during the Posting of the Colors by North Caddo Magnet High School Color Guard. ROLL CALL - VERIFICATION OF QUORUM - Board of Aldermen present for Roll Call were James Martin, Denise Alexander, Michael Guthrie, Raymond Williams and Angela Channell. Following Roll Call the Town Clerk verified that a quorum was present. Also present were other elected officials and/or staff members: Ronnie Festavan - Mayor, Kellie Morris - Town Clerk, Ryan Nelson - Chief of Police, Perry Hart - Deputy Police Chief, Kevin Hartzo - Public Works Director, Annette Lewis - Environmental Services Coordinator and Douglas Dominick - Town Attorney. APPROVE AGENDA - Motion to approve Agenda as presented was made by James Martin, second by Angela Channell; all approved. 2. SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS - Mr. Cunningham, North Caddo ELEMENTARY-MIDDLE School Principal was present to present the March Students of the Month; 1st grade Elementary Student Emma Whitney and 8th grade Middle Student Ethan Jeane. Mrs. Cherry, North Caddo Magnet HIGH School Principal, was also present and made the following announcements; 1) 40 students attended the Literary Rally at NSU and of those 40, 5 would be attending the State Rally, Page 1 of 5 2) NC had a 2nd Place winner in the State Poetry Out Loud competition, 3) ROTC was recently honored as a Unit with Distinction, and 4) a blood drive is scheduled to be held at the school on April 6th and Life Share will be donating $10 per donor to the NC Scholarship Fund. She also introduced the March Students of the Month; 9th grader Emily Bryan, 10th grader Zaharia Lewis, 11th grader Alayna Spearman and 12th grader Reginald Martin. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS - There were none. 4. MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT - Financial report including budget- to-actual comparisons was presented by Mayor Festavan. Following the report and discussion, motion to accept as presented was made by Angela Channell, second by Denise Alexander; all approved. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Motion to approve the minutes together in globo, as a unit, for the February 10 regular meeting AND the March 3 special called meeting was made by Michal Guthrie, second by Raymond Williams; all approved. 6. PUBLIC HEARING ON ORDNANCE # 731 OF 2020 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE DECLARING CERTAIN ADJUDICATED PROPERTY TO BE SURPLUS AND TO AUTHORIZE THE TOWN TAX COLLECTOR, OR A DESIGNEE, TO SELL THE TOWN OF VIVIAN’S TAX INTEREST IN CERTAIN SURPLU S ADJUDICATED PROPERTY, AND TO OTHERWISE PROVIDE WITH RESPECT THERETO, SAID PROPERTY BEING DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: LOT G, PENROD ADDITION, TOWN OF VIVIAN, CADDO PARISH, LOUISIANA GEO # 221624-10-7, with a municipal address of 1016 N. Lillie St., Vivian, LA 71082. Mayor Festavan opened the public hearing for comments FOR or AGAINST the Ordinance; none were made. He then declared the public hearing closed. 7. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE FINAL ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE # 731 OF 2020 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - SEE AGENDA ITEM # 6. - Motion to adopt Ordinance # 731 of 2020 of the Town of Vivian, Louisiana was made by Raymond Williams, second by James Martin; all approved. Page 2 of 5 6. 8. INTRODUCTION OF ORDNANCE # 732 OF 2020 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF AN AMOUNT NOT EXCEEDING THREE MILLION TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($3,250,000) WATER AND SEWER SYSTEM REVENUE REFUNDING BONDS, SERIES 2020, OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, STATE OF LOUISIANA; PRESCRIBING THE FORM, TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SAID BONDS; DESIGNATING THE DATE, DENOMINATION AND PLACE OF PAYMENT OF SAID BONDS; PROVIDING FOR THE PAYMENT THEREOF IN PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST; AND PROVIDING FOR OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. (This is a refinancing of current water and sewer bonds by the Town of Vivian.) There will be a public hearing prior to the adoption of Ordinance # 732 at the Regular Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 13, 2020 at the Vivian Town Hall, located at 112 W. Alabama Ave. in Vivian, Louisiana. 7. 9. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE # 733 OF 2020 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO DECLARE CERTAIN IMMOVABLE PROPERTY OWNED BY THE TOWN OF VIVIAN TO BE DILAPIDATED AND NO LONGER NEEDED FOR A PUBLIC PURPOSE AND TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS TO DEMOLISH AND REMOVE THE STRUCTURE ON THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY, TO WIT LOTS 5, & 6, VIVIAN HEIGHTS SUBDIVISION, LOCATED IN SECTION 26, TOWNSHIP 22 NORTH, RANGE 16 WEST, VIVIAN, CADDO PARISH LOUISIANA. GEOGRAPHICAL NUMBER 221626-064-0020-00 (This is blue building located adjacent to the Vivian Cemetery.) There will be a public hearing prior to the adoption of Ordinance # 733 at the Regular Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 13, 2020 at the Vivian Town Hall, located at 112 W. Alabama Ave. in Vivian, Louisiana. 9. 10. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION # 3 OF 2020 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND EXECUTE A SERVITUDE/RIGHT OF WAY AGREEMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN FROM THE CADDO WARD II INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FOR UTILITY PURPOSES CONCERNING THE SEWER PROJECT BY THE TOWN ALONG LOUISIANA HWY 170. (THIS WILL ALLOW THE TOWN ACCESS TO ITS Page 3 of 5 LIFT STATION.) Motion to adopt Resolution # 3 of 2020 of the Town of Vivian, Louisiana was made by Raymond Williams, second by Angela Channell; all approved. ZONING/CONDEMNATION REPORT - No report given. CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT - Deputy Chief Hart was present to give report which included the following: 1) 6 (six) ten-day notices were issued for the month of February, 2 of which were at 402 and 412 W. Louisiana Ave. for tires, junk, grass, etc., and the issues were cleared up before the ten days elapsed, 2) 124 Milner St. was issued a ten-day notice, 3) 213 E. Louisiana Ave. received a ten-day notice to clean up items removed from the house following an eviction which was done, and 4) 406 S. Pine, the old dry cleaners which Deputy Chief Hart stated that Zoning/Condemnation Officer, Bobby Smith needed to observe. Councilman Denise Alexander reported that someone was living in a motorhome at a home on Upper State Line Rd. Other addresses discussed were the corner of Rocky Lane & W. Georgia Ave. Councilman Raymond Williams asked about Animal Control and the fact that animals were running loose in town. After some discussion concerning this matter, Mayor Festavan stated that he would arrange a meeting with Parish Commissioner Todd Hopkins and some of the Council Members to discuss Animal Control. Mayor Festavan commended Deputy Chief Hart on the Code Enforcement and asked everyone to keep an eye out for that. MAYOR’S REPORT - The Mayor’s report included the following topics: 1) the swimming pool project Phase 1 is about to get started, and engineers are about to get started, we have some money for the project and Dr. Marby Barker is in the process of writing a grant for additional funds on the pool project, 2) the surplus sale list continues to grow and the sale is tentatively scheduled sometime when the weather is nice, 3) the Redbud Festival and the amount of work that goes into putting the festival together 4) the Mayor’s Clean-Up day would be changed April 25th and held in conjunction with a state initiative being sponsored by the Lieutenant Governor “Love the Boot’, 5) the Re-Opening of the Vivian Railroad Station Museum, 6) the removal of the blue building beside the cemetery which houses AA meetings, the liability and the fact that he is actively seeking another location at a local church facility for their meetings, 7) just received word that the Monterey Hill Apartments project should be starting Page 4 of 5 the end of March or first of April, and 8) the AT&T cellular tower is up! ANNOUNCEMENTS BY BOARD OF ALDERMEN - There were none. ADJOURN - Motion to adjourn was made by Raymond Williams, second by Denise Alexander; all approved. Meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m. ___________________________________ Ronnie Festavan, Mayor ______________________________________________ March 23, 2020 Kellie Morris, Town Clerk Page 5 of 5