City Council

MINUTES REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING VIVIAN TOWN HALL MEETING ROOM 112 W. ALABAMA AVE. VIVIAN, LOUISIANA MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022 6:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Festavan called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. INVOCATION - Pastor Robert Green of Colquitt Baptist Church 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, and Raymond Williams; absent was 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 - Mayor Festavan requested that Agenda item # 11-C, Condemnation Consideration, be removed from the Agenda. Chief Nelson also requested that Agenda items # 10-2 and # 10-3 under Hiring of Police Personnel be removed from the Agenda. After hearing no objections from the Council motion to approve the Agenda with these changes was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by Michael Guthrie; all present approved. 1. SPECIAL RECOGNITION - Family members of Dr. Jimmy L. Carroll were present for the reading of a Proclamation by the Mayor proclaiming June 13, 2022 as “Dr. Jimmy L. Carroll Day”. The Proclamation read aloud by Mayor Festavan and made part of the official record. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS - The following individuals made public comments: 1) Mrs. Kathy Hutchinson of 815 S. Cypress St. in Vivian made comments about speeding down S. Cypress St., and 2) Mrs. Gwendolyn B. Nation of 404 W. Arkansas Ave. in Vivian expressed her concerns over pet & people safety in her neighborhood following an incident with a stray dog. 3. 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, seconded by Denise Alexander; all present approved. Page 1 of 3 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Motion to approve the Minutes for the May 11, 2022 Regular Council Meeting and the May 11, May 25, and June 1, 2022 Special Called Meetings together in globo, as a unit, was made by James Martin, seconded by Denise Alexander; all present approved. 5. PUBLIC HEARING ON ORDINANCE # 777 OF 2022 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 4 - ANIMALS AND FOWL, ARTICLE IV - SPECIAL PROVISIONS. Mayor Festavan opened the public hearing for comments FOR or AGAINST the Ordinance; none were made. He then declared the public hearing closed. 6. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE FINAL ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE # 777 OF 2022 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - Motion to adopt Ordinance # 777 of 2022 of the Town of Vivian, Louisiana was made by Denise Alexander, seconded by James Martin; all present approved. 7. PUBLIC HEARING ON ORDINANCE # 778 OF 2022 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO OFFICIALLY RENAME CHICKASAW AVENUE TO DR. JIMMY L. CARROLL AVENUE, LOCATED WITHIN THE TOWN LIMITS OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, CADDO PARISH, LOUISIANA. Mayor Festavan opened the public hearing for comments FOR or AGAINST the Ordinance; none were made. He then declared the public hearing closed. 8. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE FINAL ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE # 778 OF 2022 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - Motion to adopt Ordinance # 778 of 2022 of the Town of Vivian, Louisiana was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by Denise Alexander; all present approved. 9. THE BOARD OF ALDERMAN WILL CONSIDER THE ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION # 11 OF 2022 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - A RESOLUTION TO AMEND AND SUPPLEMENT SECTION 8, HOLIDAY PAY, OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK. Motion to adopt Resolution # 11 of 2022 was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by James Martin; all present approved. 10. HIRING OF POLICE PERSONNEL - THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE CHIEF OF POLICE’S RECOMMENDATION TO HIRE THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUAL(S) FOR THE VIVIAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: 1) Ricky Reider - Part-time Police Officer - $11.00 per hour, 2) Removed from Agenda, and 3) Removed from Agenda. Motion to hire Mr. Reider on a probationary basis until the September 12 Regular Council Meeting, and contingent upon his obtaining his firearm certification and his Louisiana driver’s license was made by Denise Alexander, seconded by James Martin; all present approved. 11. ZONING, CONDEMNATION & CODE ENFORCEMENT MATTERS - A. ZONING VARIANCE HEARING - Case # 588 - 1704 N. Pine St. - Nick Alexander Mr. Nick Alexander, landowner, was present on behalf of this case to ask that he be allowed to place a new mobile home on his property where his former home recently Page 2 of 3 burned. Following questions, answers and discussion, motion to approve Zoning Officer Smith’s recommendation to approve the variance was made by Raymond Williams and seconded by Michael Guthrie. Denise Alexander, a family member of Mr. Alexander’s, abstained, recused himself, from the vote. All others present voted to approve. B. FINAL CONDEMNATION HEARING - 317 W. Atlanta St., Vivian, LA - E 65.6 ft of lot 102 & E 65.6 ft of Lot 103 Galloway & Beazley Annex, Vivian, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, together with all buildings and improvements thereon. Geo # 221623015011600. Discussion was held on this matter and Town Attorney Dominick called for the property’s interested parties to speak if present; none were present. Motion to continue with and complete the condemnation /demolition of this home was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by Denise Alexander; all present approved. C. CONDEMNATION CONSIDERATION - Removed from the Agenda D. COMPLETE ZONING/CONDEMNATION & CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT - Zoning/Condemnation and Code Enforcement Officer Smith presented the Council and others at the bench a written report. His report included the following properties: 1) 804 W. Georgia Ave., 2)* 310 E. California Ave., 3)* 405 Bailey St., 4)* 301 S. Pardue St., 5) 203 E. Pennsylvania Ave., 6)* 605 S. E. Front St., 7)* 625 S. E. Front St., 8) 615 S. Pecan St., 9)* 912 S. Pine St., 10) 1704 N. Pine St., 11) 201 W. Milner St., 12)* 1501 S. Pardue St. and 13) 1504 S. Pardue St. which is already in the condemnation process. Following Officer Smith’s report with questions, answers and discussion, motion to place the following properties # 2,3,4,6,7,9, and 12 (marked with *) on the condemnation list was made by Denise Alexander, seconded by Michael Guthrie; all present approved. Council Members also asked that a) 1504 S. Pardue St. be prioritized as #1 and b) 912 S. Pine St. as #2 in the condemnation /demolition process. MAYOR’S REPORT - Mayor Festavan gave a report on the following: 1) the LMA District Meeting coming up on June 20, 2) a reminder about the Special Called Meeting to Amend & Adopt the Budgets on Wednesday, June 29, and 3) an up-date on the letter sent to Mr. Ken Ward with Caddo Parish concerning Sunday opening of the local trash compactor site that was sent. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY BOARD OF ALDERMEN - Michael Guthrie thanked Mrs. Hutchinson for coming to talk about the speeding. He stated that he hoped that something would be done about it. ADJOURN - Motion to adjourn was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by James Martin; all approved. Meeting was adjourned at 7:04 p.m. _______________________________ Kellie Morris, Town Clerk _______________________________ Ronnie Festavan, Mayor June 15, 2022 Page 3 of 3