City Council

MINUTES REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING VIVIAN TOWN HALL MEETING ROOM 112 W. ALABAMA AVE. VIVIAN, LOUISIANA MONDAY, MAY 8, 2023 6:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Festavan called the meeting or 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, 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 Samuel Hodge; all present approved. 1. SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS - There were none. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS - There were none. 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 Robert Green, seconded by James Martin; all present approved. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - for the April 10, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. Motion to approve the Minutes of the April 10, 2023 Regular Council Meeting was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by Denise Alexander; all present approved. 5. PUBLIC HEARING ON ORDINANCE # 784 OF 2023 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO LEASE IMMOVABLE PROPERTY THE REASONS FOR SAID LEASE, TO FIX THE MINIMUM PRICE OF SAID LEASE AND THE TERMS OF THE LEASE. FURTHER TO DECLARE SAID PROPERTY SURPLUS PROPERTY AND NO LONGER NEEDED FOR A PUBLIC PURPOSE, SAID PROPERTY BEING A 30 BY 30 FOOT LOT OUT OF THE NORTHEAST QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST (NE 1/4 OF NE 1/4) OF SECTION 14, TOWNSHIP 22 NORTH, RANGE 16 WEST, CADDO PARISH, LOUISIANA. Mayor Festavan opened the public hearing for comments FOR or AGAINST Ordinance # 784 of 2023; none were made. He then declared the public hearing closed. 6. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL CONSIDER THE FINAL ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE # 784 OF 2023 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - Motion to adopt Ordinance # 784 of 2023 was made by Raymond Williams, seconded by Samuel Hodge; all approved. 7. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE # 785 OF 2023 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN ORDINANCE TO ADOPT THE MILLAGE RATES FOR THE 2023 TAX YEAR IN AND FOR THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA. There will be a public hearing prior to the adoption of Ordinance # 785 at the Regular Town Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2023 at the Vivian Town Hall located at 112 W. Alabama Ave. in Vivian, Louisiana. Motion to introduce Ordinance # 785 of 2023 was made by Robert Green, seconded by James Martin; all present approved. 8. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE # 786 OF 2023 OF THE TOWN OF VIVIAN, LOUISIANA - AN Page 1 of 2 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 SURPLUS ADJUDICATED PROPERTY, AND TO OTHERWISE PROVIDE WITH RESPECT THERETO. There will be a public hearing prior to the adoption of Ordinance # 786 at the Regular Town Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2023 at the Vivian Town Hall located at 112 W. Alabama Ave. in Vivian, Louisiana. Motion to introduce Ordinance # 786 of 2023 was made by Samuel Hodge, seconded by Raymond Williams; all present approved. 9. REVIEW OF POLICE DEPARTMENT PROBATIONARY STATUS - 1) Eric Brooks - Part-time Police Officer - Hire date, February 13, 2023, and 2) Cecil Littlejohn - Part-time Police Officer - Hire date, February 13, 2023. Following comments from Chief Nelson his recommendation was to remove 1) Officer Brooks from probationary status, and to continue the probationary status for 2) Officer Littlejohn until the July 10, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. Motion to approve Chief Nelson’s recommendation was made by Denise Alexander, seconded by Robert Green; all approved. ZONING, CONDEMNATION & CODE ENFORCEMENT MATTERS - A. FINAL CONDEMNATION HEARING(s) - i. THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN WILL REVIEW THE STATUS OF THE FOLLOWING PROPERTY: 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, February 13, March 13, and April 10, 2023 Regular Council Meetings. No one was present on behalf of this property. Following Zoning/Condemnation Officer Bobby Smith’s report on the property motion was made by Raymond Williams and seconded by Denise Alexander to continue with final condemnation at the June 12, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. All approved. B. ZONING/CONDEMNATION REPORT - Zoning / Condemnation Officer Bobby Smith provided a written and oral report to the Council and others present, then followed up with discussion on the addresses and violations included in the report: 1) burned home on E. Arkansas Ave., 2) 319 Christian St., 3) 9384 Hosston Rd., 4) 121 Milner St., 5) 213 E. Arkansas Ave., and 6) 315 E. Penrod St. and 7) 14875 Old Atlanta Rd. Following his report he recommended that property # 2) 319 Christian St., be removed from the Condemnation list because it had been demolished and cleaned up by the owner. Motion was made by Raymond Williams to approve Officer Smith’s recommendation and seconded by Denise Alexander; all approved. Officer Smith also made the Council aware of a mobile home variance that would be continued at a later date. C. CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT - Code Enforcement Officer, Debra Ramage, was present to give her written and oral report for the April 5 to May 5 period on 40 (forty) cases/properties, as well as the overall one-year analysis that showed 86 (eighty-six) cases opened and 60 (sixty) cases closed. Questions, answers and discussion ensued concerning properties in the report. Ms. Ramage also brought up the possibility of the Town providing a large, monitored, dumpster in various wards to accommodate residents in cleaning up their property that was met with questions, answers and discussion. MAYOR’S REPORT - Mayor Festavan gave a report on the following: 1) the LMA District Meting that will be held in Haughton on June 26th, and 2) the LMA Annual Convention that will be held August 3rd through 5th in Alexandria. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY BOARD OF ALDERMEN - There were none. ADJOURN - Motion to adjourn was made by Robert Green, seconded by Samuel Hodge; all approved. Meeting was adjourned at 7:24 p.m. Kellie Morris, Town Clerk Ronnie Festavan, Mayor _______________________________ _______________________________ May 26, 2023 Page 2 of 2