City Council

MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING TOWN HALL MEETING ROOM 112 W. ALABAMA AVE. VIVIAN, LOUISIANA MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021 6:00 PM CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Festavan called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. INVOCATION - Alderman Raymond Williams opened the meeting in prayer. PLEDGE - Mayor Festavan led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance. 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, Ryan Nelson - Chief of Police, Kellie Morris - Town Clerk, Douglas Dominick - Town Attorney and Bobby Smith - Zoning/Condemnation and Code Enforcement Officer. APPROVE AGENDA - Agenda item # 10 was inadvertently listed as HIRING OF POLICE PERSONNEL - Colt Freeman - Part-time Officer - $10.00 per hour instead of Colt Freeman - Part-time DISPATCHER - $10.00 per hour. An amendment to the Agenda was needed in order to consider the hiring of the individual for the Dispatcher position. Motion to amend Agenda item # 10 to reflect hiring for DISPATCHER position was made by Michael Guthrie, second by James Martin; all approved. APPROVE AGENDA AS AMENDED - Motion to approve the Agenda as amended was made by Denise Alexander, second by James Martin; all approved. 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS - Two individuals were present to make Public Comments regarding 1) Agenda item # 11 and 2) condemnation of home. Both individuals agreed to withhold comments until those Agenda items came up. 2. 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 Raymond Williams, second by Denise Alexander; all approved. Page 1 of 4 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Motion to approve the minutes together in globo, as a unit, for 1) July 12, 2021 regular meeting, and 2) July 20, 2021 special called meeting was made by James Martin, second by Michael Guthrie; all approved. 4. PUBLIC HEARING OF ORDINANCE # 762 OF 2021 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND AND RE-NUMBER ORDINANCES FOR THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA, TO REDESIGNATE AND RENUMBER ORDINANCE NUMBERS 17– 1201, ORDINANCE NUMBER 18–0101, AND ORDINANCE NUMBER 18–0201 AND TO DECLARE ORDINANCE NUMBER 704 TO BE NULL AND VOID. Mayor Festavan opened the public hearing for comments FOR or AGAINST the Ordinance; none were made. He then declared the public hearing closed. 5. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE FINAL ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE # 762 OF 2021 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - SEE AGENDA ITEM # 4. Motion to adopt Ordinance # 762 of 2021 of the Town of Vivian, Louisiana was made by Raymond Williams, second by Denise Alexander; all approved. 6. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE # 761 OF 2021 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION 18-191 ESTABLISHED OF DIVISION 3. RATES OF ARTICLE III. WATER OF CHAPTER 18 - UTILITIES. There will be a public hearing prior to the adoption of Ordinance # 761 at the regular Town Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, September 13, 2021 at the Vivian Town Hall, located at 112 W. Alabama Ave. in Vivian, Louisiana. 7. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE # 763 OF 2021 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION 14-2 COLLECTION RATES CHAPTER 14 - SOLID WASTE. There will be a public hearing prior to the adoption of Ordinance # 763 at the regular Town Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, September 13, 2021 at the Vivian Town Hall, located at 112 W. Alabama Ave. in Vivian, Louisiana. 8. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE # 764 OF 2021 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO ADOPT THE MILLAGE RATES FOR THE 2021 TAX YEAR IN AND FOR THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA. There will be a public hearing prior to the adoption of Ordinance # 763 at the regular Town Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, September 13, 2021 at the Vivian Town Hall, located at 112 W. Alabama Ave. in Vivian, Louisiana. Page 2 of 4 9. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION # 15 OF 2021 - A RESOLUTION DECLARING UNSOLD SURPLUS PROPERTY (Old Firehouse Siren) AS SALVAGE AND AUTHORIZING THE SALE TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER. Motion to adopt Resolution # 15 of 2021 was made by Michael Guthrie, second by James Martin; all approved. 10. HIRING OF POLICE PERSONNEL - THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE CHIEF OF POLICE’S RECOMMENDATION TO HIRE THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUAL FOR THE VIVIAN POLICE DEPARTMENT; Colt Freeman - Part-time DISPATCHER - $10.00 per hour. Motion to adopt Chief Nelson’s recommendation to hire Colt Freeman for Part-time Dispatcher at $10.00 per hour on a probationary period until the November 8, 2021 regular council meeting was made by Denise Alexander, second by Michael Guthrie; all approved. 11. ZONING VARIANCE HEARING - THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER ISSUING A ZONING VARIANCE; to allow temporary placement of a travel trailer at the following address: 109 Patton St. – Case # 548. Mr. Alfredo Morales of 109 Patton St. in Vivian was present to request a variance to place a 5th-wheel travel trailer at same address while doing construction on the permanent structure. Mr. Bobby Smith, Zoning/Condemnation & Code Enforcement Officer was present and in favor of granting the variance. Motion to allow Mr. Morales to place the travel trailer on the property for a maximum of 120 days was made by Raymond Williams, second by Denise Alexander; all approved. ZONING/CONDEMNATION REPORT - 1) Ms. Sandra Sullivan of 211 W. Mississippi Ave. in Vivian was present to speak to the Council about her home which is in the process of being condemned. After her initial comments and a lengthy question and answer period the decision was made by the Council to give Ms. Sullivan until the September 13, 2021, Regular Council Meeting to produce proof to bring the home up to livable standards, i.e., permits, contractors, and a plan of action for improvements, and to allow Officer Smith to go inside of the home to inspect the home’s interior condition. The matter was then rescheduled for the September Council Meeting. 2) Officer Smith recommended 314 W. Tennessee Ave. for condemnation. Motion to begin the condemnation process on this address was made by Denise Alexander, second by Raymond Williams; all approved. 3) Officer Smith then recommended 509 S. Pardue St. for condemnation. Motion to begin the condemnation process on this address was made by James Martin, second by Raymond Williams. Voting to begin the condemnation process on this address were Martin, Alexander, Williams and Channell; Guthrie was absent for the vote. Page 3 of 4 Town Attorney Douglas Dominick also gave a written and oral update of the condemnation status on the following properties: 1) 211 W. Mississippi Ave., 2) 420 E. Alabama Ave., 3) 730 N. Spruce St., 4) 1504 S. Pardue St., 5) 9996 Upper Stateline Rd., and 6) 412 S. Pardue St. CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT - Report was given on the following addresses: 1) 9438 Hosston Rd., 2) 602 S. Cypress St., 3) 415 W. Kentucky Ave., 4) 221 Bailey St., 5) 304 E. Oklahoma Ave., 6) 204 E. Pennsylvania Ave., 7) 314 Midway St., 8) 9782 Upper State Line Rd., 9) 525 W. Tennessee Ave., 10) 435 N. Walnut St., 11) 113 N. Walnut St., 12) 535 W. Louisiana Ave., 13) 512 W. Louisiana Ave., 14) 210 Rocky Ln. 15) 912 S. Pine St., 16) 512 S. Cypress St., and 17) corner of Hosston Rd. and S. Pardue St. MAYOR’S REPORT - Mayor Festavan gave a report on the following: 1) tax collections and the recent property tax sale, 2) the Broadband Initiative, 3) Environmental Court in Monroe that he and Alderman Denise Alexander recently attended, 4) the Obstruction Removal Project is scheduled to begin at the Airport on Monday, August 16 to be completed within 30 days, 5) a City of Shreveport article on Blight by Prentis Smith that was previously sent to Council members, and 6) the delay, non-receipt, of August water bills that were mailed on July 28 and a possible congressional inquiry into the Shreveport Post Office. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY BOARD OF ALDERMEN - There were none. ADJOURN - Motion to adjourn was made by Raymond Williams, second by James Martin; all approved. Meeting was adjourned at 7:37 p.m. _______________________________ Ronnie Festavan, Mayor _______________________________ August 12, 2021 Kellie Morris, Town Clerk Page 4 of 4