City Council

MINUTES REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING VIVIAN TOWN HALL MEETING ROOM 112 W. ALABAMA AVE. VIVIAN, LOUISIANA MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023 6:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Festavan called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. INVOCATION - Alderman Samuel Hodge 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, Samuel Hodge, Raymond Williams, and Robert Green. 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, and Douglas Dominick - Town Attorney. APPROVE AGENDA - Motion to approve the Agenda as presented was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by James Martin; all approved. 1. SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS - Mr. Nicholas Cunningham, North Caddo Elementary-Middle School Principal, made the following announcements: 1) the current Readathon, 2) the new door wraps on the auditorium, 3) ELA Parent Night on February 28, 4) their pending Amazon Future Engineer School application, 5) the Animation Art Club, 6) Media Arts course next year, 7) their pending application to become a National Blue Ribbon school, 8) the Black History Program will be on February 24th, and 9) the Father-Daughter/Mother-Son dance. He then announced the Students-of-the Month: a) Elementary Student-of-the-Month - Harper Hayes, and b) Middle School Student-of-the-Month - McKinley Nelson. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS - There were none. 3. 2021-22 AUDIT REPORT - TRAVIS MOREHART OF COOK & MOREHART, CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS, SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA. Mr. Morehart presented the Council Members, Officials and Staff with printed audit report and letters to the Legislative Auditor concerning the financial, and the Standard Agreed Upon Procedures audits, then discussed both audits. 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 Raymond Williams, seconded Samuel Hodge; all approved. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - for the January 9, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. Motion to approve the Minutes for the January 9, 2023 Regular Council Meeting was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by James Martin; all approved. 6. 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) Eric Brooks - Part-time Police Officer - $13.00 per hour and 2) Cecil Littlejohn - Part-time Police Officer - $15.00 per hour. 1) Motion to approve the Chief of Police’s recommendation to hire Eric Brooks on a probationary period until the May 8, 2023 Regular Council Meeting was made by Denise Alexander, seconded by Raymond Williams; all approved. 2) Motion was then made to approve the Chief of Police’s recommendation to hire Cecil Littlejohn on a probationary period until the May 8, 2023 Regular Council Meeting by Raymond Williams, seconded by Samuel Hodge; all approved. Page 1 of 2 ZONING, CONDEMNATION & CODE ENFORCEMENT MATTERS - A. FINAL CONDEMNATION HEARING(s) - ii. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL RECONSIDER THE FOLLOWING PROPERTY FOR FINAL CONDEMNATION: E/2 OF LOTS 2, 3 & 4, BLK 7, CHRISTIAN HTS. ADON., VIVIAN, CADDO PARISH, LOUISIANA: Geographical number 221626-120-0031-11, with a municipal address of 405 East Bailey St., Vivian, LA 71082. This case was continued from the January 9, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. Town Attorney, Douglas Dominick, presented photos of the property to the Council members and stated that he had talked to the property owner. During discussion the Council directed Attorney Dominick to contact the property owner and have him appear at the March 13, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. Following discussion motion was made by Raymond Williams to continue this matter for further review at the March 13, 2023 Regular Council Meeting, adding that if, the owner does not appear at same meeting or does not give satisfactory answers to the Council, that the Council would then continue with Final Condemnation proceedings on the property. The motion was seconded by Denise Alexander with all approving. B. ZONING/CONDEMNATION REPORT - There was none. C. CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT - Code Enforcement Officer, Debra Ramage, presented the Council with printed and oral report on the number of properties that she has been working on. She stated that she had sent out a number of Notices of Violation and had done several inspections. She then went on to say that she has already had compliance on some properties and that others are working on their properties. MAYOR’S REPORT - Mayor Festavan presented the Council with the Water Department Rate Study for the Community Water System Accountability Rule (water grading system) that was prepared by BALAR Associates. Explanation and discussion followed. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY BOARD OF ALDERMEN - Raymond Williams announced the 26th Annual Black History Parade would be held on Saturday, February 18th. ADJOURN - Motion to adjourn was made by Robert Green, seconded by Raymond Williams; all approved. Meeting was adjourned at 7:28 p.m. _______________________________ Kellie Morris, Town Clerk _______________________________ Ronnie Festavan, Mayor January 17, 2023 Page 2 of 2