March 11, 2024 Town of Brusly Brusly, Louisiana The regular meeting of the Town of…
Town Meeting Minutes – January 2021
January 11, 2021
Town of Brusly
Brusly, Louisiana
The regular meeting of the Town of Brusly was called to order this date, January 11, 2021, at the Brusly Town Hall, at 6:30 p.m. Council Member Tassin led the Pledge of Allegiance. A roll call determined the following officials present:
Mayor Scot Rhodes
Council Members: Rusty Daigle, Joanne Bourgeois, Blake Tassin, Shane André, Don Neisler
Town Attorney: Thomas Acosta, Jr.
Absent: None
Upon the request of Mayor Rhodes, a motion to amend the Agenda to add (e. recommend a Building Official) under (D. Personnel Committee), was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Daigle. Mayor Rhodes opened the floor for public comment. Hearing no comments, a roll call vote was had with the following results:
Yeas: Daigle, Bourgeois, Tassin, André, Neisler
Nays: None
Absent: None
Recognitions & Commendations: None
Public Works Committee:
Mayor Rhodes read the Public Works Report, as prepared by Public Works Supervisor Shane Sarradet, for the month of December. There were 3.8 inches of rainfall in the month; no drainage issues; excavated parts of Bezet Ditch and brought to grade roadside ditches on both sides of Hebert St.; installed Landmark Plaque at 257 Hebert St.; 2 SCADA alarms; no incidents to report for the Maintenance Department; 0 “out of compliance” test result on the Sewer Treatment Facility; installing radar devices at 3 lift stations to better monitor levels.
For the year of 2020 there was a total of 64” of rainfall; over 2100’ of ditches and culverts were cleaned our and brought to grade; 2 culvert program jobs were completed.
Regular bulk trash will be picked up the week of January 11th. The extra trash pickup will be January 29th.
Finance Committee:
Mayor Rhodes noted that the “Budget to Actual Comparison Report” for December was included in the meeting packets for Council Members to review.
Planning and Zoning Committee:
Mayor Rhodes opened the Public Hearing for the Final Plat Showing Re-subdivision of Lots 28A-1, 28A-2, 29A-1 of the J.C. Bezet Partition into Lots 28A-1-A, 28A-2-A, & 29A-1-A for Willis Dupont, Jr. with Variance Request of Non-Compliance Sec. 19.8(a)(5)k – to allow more than 500 feet for a private servitude of access. After a brief discussion, and having been recommended by the Planning & Zoning Commission, a motion to approve the variance was made by Council Member Daigle; seconded by Council Member André. Mayor Rhodes opened the floor for public comment. Hearing no comments, the motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Mayor Rhodes read aloud the variance request of Brennen Sanchez at 617 Burgundy St. for non-compliance of Sec. 19.18(b), to reduce the Utility Servitude from 10’ to 5’. Council Member Daigle recused himself from the request due to being a neighboring property owner. Court Bradford, representing Mr. Sanchez, explained the request to Council Members, stating that the only utility that would be installed in the servitude was a 2-inch force main pump sewer line. Mayor Rhodes reported that he, Mr. Bradford, and Council Member Neisler had measured the distance in person and determined that there was ample room for machinery to install the sewer line. Joey Normand, a nearby property owner expressed concerns about any other utilities such as cable or fiber optic lines that may already exist in the servitude. Mr. Normand also expressed his opinion that allowing a utility servitude to be reduced to 5’ would set a bad precedent. Having determined that no other utilities except a sewer line would be in the servitude, and that there was no fire hazard, Council Member Neisler made a motion to approve the variance request. The motion failed for a lack of a second. Council Members Bourgeois and André suggested that a DOTTIE ticket be done to determine what, if any, utilities presently existed in the servitude.
Personnel Committee:
Upon Mayor Rhodes’ recommendation, a motion to appoint Council Member Bourgeois as Mayor Pro Tempore was made by Council Member André; seconded by Council Member Tassin. Mayor Rhodes opened the floor for public comment. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.
Upon Mayor Rhodes’ recommendation, a motion to appoint Blaine Rabalais as Town Clerk was made by Council Member André; seconded by Council Member Tassin. Mayor Rhodes opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.
Upon Mayor Rhodes recommendation, a motion to appoint Tom Acosta as Town Attorney was made by Council Member Neisler; seconded by Council Member André. Mayor Rhodes opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.
Mayor Rhodes presented the following list of his recommendations for assignment of committee members and chairpersons:
Committees
Finance
Chairperson: Rusty Daigle
Members: Don Neisler
Blake Tassin
Public Works
Chair: Shane Andre’
Members: Rusty Daigle
Don Neisler
Recreation
Chair: Shane Andre’
Members: Joanne Bourgeois
Blake Tassin
Police
Chair: Blake Tassin
Members: Don Neisler
Joanne Bourgeois
Personnel
Chair: Don Neisler
Members: Blake Tassin
Joanne Bourgeois
Governmental Affairs
Chair: Joanne Bourgeois
Members: Rusty Daigle
Shane Andre’
Planning and Zoning
Chair: Don Neisler
Members: Rusty Daigle
Shane Andre’
Council Member André made the motion to approve the list as presented; seconded by Council Member Bourgeois. Mayor Rhodes opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.
Upon Mayor Rhodes’ recommendation, a motion to appoint Shane Sarradet as Building Official was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Tassin. Mayor Rhodes opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.
Recreation Committee: None
Police Committee: None
Governmental Affairs Committee: None
Consideration of Vetoed Ordinances: None
Hearing and Final Action on Ordinances: None
Introduction of Ordinances:
Council Member André introduced Ordinance 2 of 2021 to repeal or amend the fireworks ordinance of the Town of Brusly.
Resolutions:
A motion to approve a Resolution applying for the 2020/2021 LGAP Grant, was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member André, The Mayor opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.
Police Department Report:
Police Department Report for the month of December was given by Lt. Fontenot. There were nine (9) alarms, three (3) suspicious persons, two (2) warrant arrests, six (6) medical, thirty (30) miscellaneous complaints, seven (7) disturbances, fifteen (15) no insurance tows, sixteen (16) crash reports, two (2) hit and run, one (1) harassment, one (1) criminal damage to property, one (1) drug related, two (2) thefts, eight (8) public assists, three (3) animals at large and one (1) obscenity. For the month, there were 109 total complaints, 225 total citations and 319 total violations.
Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Rhodes reported that the Town had sold 2 surplus vehicles and is in the process of a third with “Municibid.” The Mayor is researching handicapped bikes which will be purchased with a Bikeshare Grant from Dow. The Mayor will be meeting with personnel from Tipton & Associates on Tuesday, January 12th to finalize plans for the Trailhead Park. Mayor Rhodes reported that WBR Parish Health Unit has applied to receive COVID-19 vaccines and will distribute the vaccine, when received, as directed by set protocol.
Remarks of Personal Privilege:
Mr. Joey Normand expressed concerns about the Town signing the previously proposed Cooperative Endeavor with WBR Parish regarding Building Permits. Mr. Normand reported a pothole in the bricked pavement at the entrance of Orleans Quarters Dr.; the Mayor assured him that this was being addressed for this year’s street overlay project.
WBR Parish Council Member Kershaw presented an update on WBR Parish projects, including 5G tower and solar panel farm ordinances. EcoGen America home page can also help you out in solar installations.
Announcements:
The Town Hall will be closed Monday, January 18th for Civil Rights Day.
The Landmark and Heritage meeting will be January 25th at 6:30pm.
A motion was made by Council Member André to adjourn; seconded by Council Member Daigle. Hearing no comments, the motion passed with a unanimous vote. The meeting adjourned at 7:41 PM.
/s/Scot Rhodes, Mayor /s/Blaine Rabalais, Town Clerk
