Town Meeting Minutes – Monday, April 13, 2009

April 13, 2009

Town of Brusly
Brusly, Louisiana

The regular meeting of the Town of Brusly was held this date, April 13, 2009 at the Brusly Town Hall.

Council Member Olinde led the Pledge of Allegiance. A roll call determined the following officials present:
Council Members: Thomas Olinde, Joanne Bourgeois, Landess Hebert,
Shane Andre’, Chris Kershaw
Town Attorney: Thomas Acosta, Jr.
Mayor: Joey Normand

A motion to approve the minutes of the Town’s Regular Meeting of March 9, 2009, with the correction, “A variance request submitted by Anatole Vincent” to “Anatole Vincent II and Brittany W. Vincent”, was made by Council Member Bourgeois and seconded by Council Member Olinde. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Public Works Committee:
The Mayor recommended that the Town accept the Barber Brothers Contracting Co. LLC bid of $302,850.00 for the Street Overlay Project, using the Base Bid less Deductive Alternate Bid rather than simply the Base Bid alone because the Town will sell 1,000 cubic yards of removed asphalt material back to the Contractor. A motion to accept the Barber Brothers Contracting Co. LLC Base Bid less Deductive Alternate Bid was made by Council Member André; seconded by Council Member Olinde. A roll call vote was had with the following results:
Yeas: Bourgeois, Hebert, Kershaw, Olinde, André
Nays: None
Absent: None

A motion to authorize Mayor Normand to sign the Notice of Award and any contracts for the Street Overlay Project with Barber Brothers Contracting Co. LLC was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Hebert. A roll call vote was had with the following results:
Yeas: Hebert, Kershaw, Olinde, André, Bourgeois
Nays: None
Absent: None

A motion to authorize Mayor Normand to enter into the Local Service Agreement with WBR Parish for garbage collection service was made by Council Member André; seconded by Council Member Olinde. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Planning and Zoning:
A motion to approve a Variance Request submitted by Jonathan and Paula Bernard, 408 Gleason Street, to construct a permanent building on a portion of the drainage servitude at the rear of their property was made by Council Member Hebert; seconded by Council Member Kershaw. A roll call vote was had with the following results:
Yeas: Kershaw, Olinde, André, Bourgeois, Hebert
Nays: None
Absent: None

Finance Committee: None

Personnel Committee:
A motion to authorize Mayor Normand to sign the Health Insurance Contract Renewal was made by Council Member Hebert; seconded by Council Member Bourgeois. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Recreation Committee: None

Police Committee:
A motion to set the minimum price for surplus Police vehicles at $250.00 each was made by Council Member André; seconded by Council Member Olinde. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Police Chief Whaley requested the agenda be amended to hire a Police Officer. No motion was made to do so.

Government Affairs Committee:
Council Member Bourgeois announced that 352 Landmark books totaling $4,567.00 had been sold this year. Council Member Bourgeois invited citizens with homes older than 50 years old to apply for Landmark Plaques.

Consideration of Vetoed Ordinances: None

Hearing and Final Action on Ordinances: None

Introduction of Ordinances:
Council Member Bourgeois introduced Ordinance #2 of 2009-Amend Chapter 19 of the Code of Ordinances, Re-zoning Request, Estate of Alex & Clelia Hebert, 256 East Main Street, Brusly.

Resolutions and Commendations: None

Fire Department:
Fire Chief Alleman gave the Fire Chief’s report for March. There were eleven (11) first aid calls inside the Town and fourteen (14) outside of Town. There was one (1) public assist call. There were no fire calls inside or outside the Town. There was one (1) false alarm investigation. There was one (1) gas spill and one (1) vehicle fire. There were five (5) motor vehicle crashes and two (2) mutual aid calls. The total calls for the month were thirty seven (37). Total calls year to date are eighty seven (87).
Chief Alleman gave an update on the progress being made on the construction of the new fire station. Chief Alleman also announced that the Fire Department still has reflective house number signs at the cost of $10.00 each. He explained that the Fire Department experiences difficulty locating residences without reflective numbers when responding to calls.

Police Department:
Report for the month of March was given by Chief Whaley. There were two (2) wrecks, seventeen (17) bench warrant arrests, two (2) damage to property, one (1) theft, one (1) alarm, four (4) Asst. to other agencies, four (4) juvenile matters, sixteen (16) traffic arrests, twelve (12) miscellaneous calls and one (1) domestic call. There were a total of 60 calls, 161 citations and 199 violations.
Council Member Bourgeois requested that Chief Whaley set a process to begin interviewing applicants for the position of Police Officer.

Correspondence:
Mayor Normand received a letter from the LA Tax Commission stating the sales ration study for our parish has been completed with the results showing property assessed values are within the tolerances allowed by law.

Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Normand announced that the first phase of the GPS mapping of the Town’s Sewer System has been completed. The Mayor also announced that the Town of Brusly is instituting a waste oil and anti freeze collection site. Mayor Normand gave a brief update on the completion of the Oak Plaza sewer line. The Mayor attended 10 meetings in the month of March.

Remarks of Personal Privilege:
Rosa Stelly requested updates on railroad crossing at Main Street and overly tall grass that needed to be cut. Mrs. Stelly expressed concerns about the turnover in Police Officers for the Town of Brusly and other problems in the Police Department. Darrell Jones expressed concerns about the availability of the Police Chief. The Mayor, Council Members, Town Attorney, Chief of Police and Citizens held a discussion regarding the Town’s Nuisance Ordinance procedures and problem areas in Town.

Announcements:
Landmark & Heritage Meeting April 20, 2009 at 6:30 PM
The Great American Clean Up – April 25, 2009, 9:00 AM to 12 noon.
Cleanest City Contest – May 1, 2009 at 2:15 PM

A motion was made by Council Member André to adjourn; seconded by Council Member Olinde. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.

_____________________ _______________________
Joey Normand, Mayor Debbie Berthelot, Town Clerk