Regular Meeting: May 5, 2005

TOWN OF ADDIS MINUTES

The regular meeting of the Mayor and Town Council for the Town of Addis was held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5, 2005 at the Addis Municipal Center. Mayor Bourgeois called the meeting to order and led the Pledge to the Flag.

Roll Call: Present: Mayor Bourgeois; Councilmen Cazes; Gauthreaux; Landry; parrish; Toups.
Absent: None

Minutes: The minutes of the regular meeting of April 6th were approved, as mailed, on a motion by Councilman Landry, 2nd by Councilman Toups and adopted.

Correspondence: Mayor Bourgeois advised that Mayor’s Day at the Legislature will be held on May 20th. He asked that anyone who wished to attend advise the office as soon as possible.
An invitation to the Unveiling of the mural in the Museum was read. This will be held on Sunday, May 15th at 2:00 p.m.

Parish Council: Mr .Mouch advised (1) work has begun on the Reilly Building; (2) the Council is discussing raising prices on rental of the Community Centers and fields; there has been no further action on regulations on the bookings of the Community Centers.

Sewer Report: The sewer report, given by John Artigue, included 10 equipment failures; 1 jammed pump and 2 miscellaneous calls. One sewer tie-in in River Landing and one in Acadian Crossing were inspected; and dried sludge was shipped to Reliable Landfill.

Police Report: The police report, given by Chief Anderson, included 331 traffic citations issued; 5 vehicle accidents; 23 misdemeanor arrests; and 2 felony arrests. The misdemeanor arrests were 6 – trespassing; 7-disturbing the peace; 7-traffic; 1-DWI; 2-warrants. The felony arrests were 2 for bank fraud.

Planning & Zoning Commission: Home Occupation: A request for a Home Occupation license by Mr. Lance Gauthreaux, to operate an electrical construction company from his home, was approved on a motion by Councilman Landry, 2nd by Councilman Toups and adopted on the following vote: Yeas: 5 Nays: 0 Absent: 0 Abstaining: 1-Gauthreaux

A request for a Home Occupation license by Mr. Heath Tullier to have a graphic design business at his home, was approved on a motion by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Cazes and adopted.

Mouch rezoning: Mayor Bourgeois advised that Mr. Louis Mouch would like to rezone a portion of his property to R-A to allow the construction of some apartments/condos. This item will be discussed at the May Planning & Zoning meeting at the Town’s June meeting.

Todd Leveron Variance: Mr. Leveron is planning to ask for a variance so he can subdivide property. He will attend the May Planning & Zoning Commission meeting and the Town’s June meeting.

John Benoit Variance Request: A request for a variance by Mr. John Benoit to construct an addition to his meat market, allowing him to build 17’ from the property line instead of 20’ , was approved on a motion by Councilman Landry, 2nd by Councilman Toups and adopted.

Reappointment of Members: Mr. L. J. Cavaliere and Mr. Gene Bertrand were reappointed to the Planning & Zoning Commission for 5-year terms, effective May 20, 2005, on a motion by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Cazes and adopted.

Mobile Home AdHoc Committee: Councilman Landry advised that the Ad Hoc Committee has forwarded a draft of its findings to the Attorney to check for form and legality. It will be forwarded to the Planning & Zoning Commission when the Attorney has completed his review.
Town of Addis
Regular Meeting – May 4, 2005
Page 2

Delahaye Annexation: An ordinance for the annexation of property owned by Delahaye Investments, L.L.C., located west of the main railroad line in Addis, was introduced; and a public hearing on the ordinance set for the June meeting of the Mayor and Town Council, on a motion by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Toups and adopted. Publication of the Petition for Annexation and notification of the proposed ordinance and public hearing will be published.

Police Department Renovations: A motion was made by Councilman Parrish, 2nd by Councilman Toups to expend approximately $160.00 to have Eric Seneca set up the police department’s computers in the temporary office trailer. The motion was adopted.

Building Inspector: The Mayor advised that a rough draft of the agreement on the building inspector shoud be ready by the end of the week.

Grass Cutting: No bids were received on the grass cutting. This matter will be discussed at a later meeting.

Special Meeting: Mayor Bourgeois called a special meeting to be held at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17th for the opening of bids on the LCDBG sewer project and on the grass cutting.

LCDBG Project: A pre-bid meeting was held with 7 contractors attending who picked up packets. The bids will be for two contracts – Part A and Part B, with LCDBG covering Part A and the Town covering Part B.

Cox Communications: A discussion was held on provisions of the Cox Communications franchise agreement. A motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Landry to table any action on this agreement until the June meeting. The motion was adopted.

Sugar Mill Plantation: Mayor Bourgeois advised that the contract with the Railroad on the crossing to Sugar Mill Plantation has been signed. Developers are ready to go ahead with their subdivision.

YMCA: Mayor Bourgeois advised that groundbreaking for the YMCA building will be held at 9:00 a.m. on June 10th.

New Business: Chamber of Commerce. A motion was made by Councilman Toups, 2nd by Councilman Gauthreaux to pay $4,500.00 for the 2005 Partnership for Economic Development, to the Chamber of Commerce. The motion was adopted.

Municipal Street Lighting: A motion was made by Councilman Landry, 2nd by Councilman Cazes to adopt the 10-year, municipal street lighting contract with Entergy, contingent upon modification of the contract to include a 60-day opt out anytime during the contract period. The motion was adopted.

A motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Parrish to request that Entergy engineers survey the crossing at Foret and Myhand Streets and provide adequate lighting at this location. The motion was adopted.

Proclamation: A proclamation naming May 1 – May 7, 2005 as Municipal Clerks’ Week was offered by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Toups and adopted.

Resolutions: A resolution congratulating and commending the Brusly High School boys’ wrestling team for their state championship in Boys’ Dividion II wrestling in 2005, was offered by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Parrish and adopted on the following roll call vote: Yeas: Cazes; Landry; Gauthreaux; Parrish; Toups. Nays: 0 Absent: 0 Abstaining: 0
Town of Addis Minutes
Regular Meeting – May 4, 2005
Page 3

A resolution congratulating and commending the Brusly High School Girls’ Power Lifting Team for their outstanding accomplishments for 2004-2005, particularly their State Championship in Girls’ Power Lifting for 2005, was offered by Councilman Toups, 2nd by Councilman Cazes and adopted on the following roll call vote: Yeas: Cazes; Landry; Gauthreaux; Parrish; Toups. Nays: 0 Absent: 0 Abstaining: 0.

Employee Insurance: Mayor Bourgeois advised that United Health’s insurance premium went up quite a bit again this year, so quotes were obtained from two other providers. Blue Cross/Blue Shield noted an approximately 7.2% lower premium than the others.
A motion was made by Councilman Landry, 2nd by Councilman Cazes to ratify the choice of Blue Cross/Blue Shield for insurance for employees. The motion was adopted.

Sewer Acquisitions: Mayor Bourgeois advised that he received a letter from the Assessor who advised that payment for rights-of-way should be at $1.05 per square foot. Several rights-of-way are needed for the proposed sewer project.
A motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Landry to go ahead and expend approximately $12,000.00 for the acquisition of rights-of-way and culverts which will be necessary for the upcoming sewer project. The motion was adopted.

Open Container: A request for an open container permit submitted by DynMcDermott for a Company picnic at Myhand Park on May 7th, was approved on a motion by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Parrish and adopted.

Sub-District #1 meeting: At 8:23 p.m. a motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Gauthreaux to temporarily adjourn the meeting in order to hold the regular meeting for the Board of Commissioners for Fire Sub-District #1 of WBR. The motion was adopted.
At 8:40 p.m. a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the Mayor and Town Council for the Town of Addis, was made by Councilman Toups, 2nd by Councilman Gauthreaux and adopted.

Committee Reports: Finance: A motion to pay presented was made by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Parrish and adopted.

A motion was made by Councilman Parrish, 2nd by Councilman Cazes to raise the per mile allowance for employees who use their personal vehicles for Town business, from $ .31 to $ .41 per gallon when gas is $2.00 a gallon or more; with the amount to drop to $ .37 per gallon when the gas price falls below $2.00. The motion was adopted.

A motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Parrish to waive the building permit fee for the YMCA building. The motion was adopted.

A motion was made by Councilman Parrish, 2nd by Councilman Toups to expend approximately $2,800.00 for lighting the girls’ softball field. The motion was adopted.

Sewer: Purchase of the following items was approved on a moiton by Councilman Toups, 2nd by Councilman Gauthreaux and adopted:
Tarps to cover sludge $445.00
Bubbler (spare) for Addis Lane station
Float Switch 25 @ $20.00 each 535.00
Metal Detector 800.00
Bateau for sewer plant 486.00
Polymer – amount needed

Town of Addis Minutes
Regular Meeting – May 4, 2005
Page 4

Police: Chief Anderson advised that one of the police vehicle threw a rod and would cost approximately $4,000.00 - $6,000.00 for repairs.
A motion was made by Councilman Landry, 2nd by Councilman Toups to authorize the purchase of a new vehicle to replace the damaged vehicle. The motion was adopted.

Personnel: A motion was made by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Parrish to expend approximately $2,500.00 for the annual service award banquet. The motion was adopted.

Drainage: John Artigue will get prices to have a damaged tree removed from a town right-of-way on Bird Heights.

A discussion was held on catch basins in subdivision. A motion was made by Councilman Landry, 2nd by Councilman Cazes that all catch basins will be 1 on 1 up to 18”.; after 18” the minimum has to be 18” ; and with all grating to be metal. The motion was adopted.

Buildings: A motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Toups to allow the EPA the use of the Chambers for a public hearing on May 26th. The motion was adopted.

A motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Gauthreaux to expend approximately $1,100.00 for aluminum, satin finish letters for the Civic Center. The motion was adopted.

A letter will be sent to recover the key and cost for repairs of the Civic Center.

Streets. Roads. Etc/ A motion was made by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Cazes to purchase a new lawn mower at a cost of approximately $8,000.00. The motion was adopted.

A motion was made by Councilman Cazes, 2nd by Councilman Parrish to advertise the sale of the 1996 Dodge pickup truck, with a minimum bid of $1,000.00. The motion was adopted.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. on a motion by Councilman Gauthreaux, 2nd by Councilman Cazes and adopted.

Carroll P. Bourgeois
Vera T. Lucas Mayor
Town Clerk