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Town Meeting Minutes – Monday, June 8, 2009

June 8, 2009

Town of Brusly
Brusly, Louisiana

The regular meeting of the Town of Brusly was held this date, June 8, 2009 at the Brusly Town Hall.

Elizabeth Wallace and Joy Jason led the Pledge of Allegiance. A roll call determined the following officials present:

Mayor: Joey Normand
Council Members: Thomas Olinde, Joanne Bourgeois, Landess Hebert,
Shane André, Chris Kershaw
Town Attorney: Thomas Acosta, Jr.

A motion to approve the minutes of the Town’s regular meeting of May 11, 2009, was made by Council Member Bourgeois and seconded by Council Member Kershaw. Motion passed with a unanimous vote.
A motion to amend the agenda, to take up item #G.2 to award Cleanest City Contest Certificates, was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Olinde. A roll call vote was had with the following results:
Yeas: Olinde, André, Bourgeois, Hebert, Kershaw
Nays: None
Absent: None

Governmental Affair Committee:
Council Member Bourgeois presented Certificates of Commendation to Elizabeth Wallace, Joy Jason and Shelbi Graft, for their participation in the 2009 Cleanest City Essay Contest.

Public Works Committee:
Upon Mayor Normand’s recommendation, a motion to approve the Street Overlay Project Substantial Completion was made by Council Member André; seconded by Council Member Hebert. The motion passed unanimously.

Upon Mayor Normand’s request, a motion to authorize payment of $350,277.05 for the Street Overlay Project was made by Council Member Olinde; seconded by Council Member André. The motion passed unanimously.

Planning and Zoning Committee:
A motion to reconsider a Variance Request submitted by Daniel R. Scott, 467 Marionneaux Street, Lot #40A Southside Acres Subdivision, requesting a side setback variance of (9) feet on the east side of his property was made by Council Member Kershaw; seconded by Council Member André. A roll call vote was called with the following results:
Yeas: André, Kershaw
Nays: Bourgeois, Hebert, Olinde
Absent: None
The Council voted not to reconsider.
A motion to accept the Planning & Zoning Commission’s recommendation to grant a variance submitted by Allen J. David requesting a drainage servitude encroachment variance at 1837 Orleans Quarters Drive was made by Council Member Kershaw; seconded by Council Member Olinde. A roll call vote was called with the following results:
Yeas: Bourgeois, Hebert, Kershaw, Olinde, André
Nays: None
Absent: None
The motion passed.

Upon Mayor Normand’s recommendation, a motion to reappoint Carroll Fontenot for a seven year term to the Planning & Zoning Commission was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Hebert. The motion passed unanimously.

Finance Committee: None

Personnel Committee: None

Recreation Committee: None

Police Committee:
No nuisance appeals were made.

Chief Whaley recommended hiring Troy Doiron as a Part Time Police Officer at the rate of $13.50/ hr. After a short discussion, Council Member Hebert motioned to accept the recommendation; seconded by Council Member Olinde. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Yeas: Hebert, Kershaw, Olinde, André, Bourgeois
Nays: None
Absent: None

Governmental Affair Committee:
Upon Mayor Normand’s recommendation a motion to name Westside Journal as Official Journal of the Town of Brusly was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Olinde. The motion passed unanimously.
Consideration of Vetoed Ordinances:

Hearing and Final Action on Ordinances:
The Mayor read aloud Ordinance # 2 of 2009 – (Rezoning Request) pursuant to LA R.S. 33:4724 and 33:4726
Request: Re-Zoning From R-2 (Single-Family Residential) to C-1 (Light Commercial)
Address: 256 East Main Street, Brusly
Property: Lot 1, Square 20 Molaisonville, Town of Brusly, Containing 0.846 Acres, More or Less belonging to Estates of Alex & Clelia Hebert (Requested by Rodney Varnell, Co-owner).
The Mayor opened the Public Hearing. The following citizens voiced their opposition to rezoning a residential property to a commercial property:

Lois Crockett Hilley Stephanie Crockett Martin
Mary Alice LeBlanc Crockett Edward Elmore
James L. Williams John Bres
Peggy Crockett Moore Felton Crockett
Joyce Murphy Doretha Crockett
No one spoke in favor of the rezoning.
Hearing no further comments from the public Mayor Normand closed the Public Hearing and turned the matter over to the Council. A motion to adopt Ordinance #2 was made by Council Member Kershaw. Due to failure of a second, the motion to adopt failed.

The Mayor read aloud Ordinance #3 of 2009, to amend the Appropriations Ordinance of 2008-2009; to provide relative to appropriations for the income and expenses of the Town. The Mayor opened the Public Hearing. Hearing no comments the Public Hearing was closed. A motion was made by Council Member Hebert to approve; seconded by Council Member Bourgeois. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Yeas: Kershaw, Olinde, André, Bourgeois, Hebert
Nays: None
Absent: None

Mayor Normand read aloud Ordinance #4 of 2009, to make appropriations for the expenses of the Town of Brusly for 2009-2010 and to provide relative to the expenditure of said appropriations. Prior to opening the Public Hearing , the Mayor read the following memo to the Town Council:
“In July 2007, I recommended hiring the Clayton-Fruge’ law firm as special council to deal with the George “Skipper” Grady litigation. At that time you approved a budget of $10,000 for that purpose. In the 2008-2009 budget year, you approved an additional $10,000 for this litigation. In my 2009-2010 budget message, I made it a point to emphasize the importance of your taking a fresh look at this litigation before acting on my recommendation of an additional $10,000 for this budget year. To better prepare you for that discussion and vote, I called a Special Meeting on May 27, 2009 for the purpose of going into executive session so our special council and town attorney could brief the Council on this litigation. In the executive session, our attorneys reviewed what has transpired to date and where we are now. In addition, they answered your questions.
You are here today with the budget before you in which one line item is clearly for the purpose of funding this litigation. You have been briefed by our attorneys. You have had opportunities to ask our attorneys for factual information and/or advice. You are in the best position to receive input from our citizens. Before voting on this budget, I will ask if any one of you wishes to amend this budget by removing this line item. Failure to do so means that you believe it is in the best interest of this Town to continue with this litigation. It does not mean you are not frustrated by this unfortunate circumstance. It means you think it is the right thing to do for the Town of Brusly.
I, as your Mayor, am charged with enforcement of the zoning ordinance. Performing that duty is how we reached this point. As your Mayor, I am often subject to the review and approval of the Town Council. That is what is happening today. I believe the course taken thus far is the correct one. However, should you believe otherwise, I will respect that decision because I know it is a decision based on the best interest of our Town.”

The Mayor opened the Public Hearing. After hearing public comments, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing and turned it over to the Council for consideration. After some discussion, Council Member Bourgeois moved to approve; seconded by Council Member Olinde. At this point in the Council’s deliberation the Mayor asked if any Council Member wished to amend the budget by removing the item funding the Grady Litigation. No amendment was offered. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Yeas: Olinde, André, Bourgeois, Hebert, Kershaw
Nays: None
Absent: None

Mayor Normand read aloud Ordinance #5 of 2009, to make appropriations for the expenses of the Town of Brusly sewer system 2009-2010 and to provide relative to the expenditure of said appropriations. The Mayor opened the Public Hearing. After some questions from the public, the Public Hearing was closed and turned over to the Council for consideration. After a brief discussion among the Council Members, a motion to approve was made by Council Member Kershaw; seconded by Council Member André. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Yeas: André, Bourgeois, Hebert, Kershaw, Olinde
Nays: None
Absent: None

Introduction of Ordinances: None

Resolutions and Commendations:
Resolution # 6 of 2009, to appoint Don Deville for 2008-2009 Fiscal Year Audit, was accepted unanimously upon a motion by Council Member Bourgeois with a second by Council Member André.

Resolution #7 of 2009, to declare surplus items and set minimum prices, was adopted as written unanimously upon motion by council Member André with a second by Council Member Bourgeois.

Fire Department Report:
Fire Chief Alleman gave the Fire Chief’s report for May. There were seven (7) first aid calls inside the Town and thirteen (13) outside of Town. There were no fire calls inside or outside the Town. There was one (1) false alarm investigation. There was one (1) natural gas leak. There were five (5) motor vehicle crashes, one (1) tractor overturned and three (3) mutual aid calls to Addis. The total calls for the month were thirty one (31). Total calls year to date are one hundred forty three (143).

Police Department Report:
Report for the month of May was given by Chief Whaley. There were seven (7) wrecks, nine (9) bench warrant arrests, one (1) battery, two (2) damage to property, one (1) robbery, eight (8) alarms, sixteen (16) assists to other agencies, three (3) juvenile matters, eight (8) traffic arrests, thirty one (31) miscellaneous calls and four (4) domestic calls. For the month’s total, there were 90 calls, 148 citations and 200 violations.
Correspondence: None

Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Normand announced that the Cleanest City Signs have been updated and reposted. The Mayor attended a Historical Photo Exhibit at the WBR Senior Citizens’ Spirit Center, the Arbor Day Celebration at Brusly Middle School and a Building Permit Summit held by the Parish.

Remarks of Personal Privilege:
Assistant Fire Chief Kenny Hunts commended the Mayor for his work as Chairman of the WBR Central Communications, in obtaining the new Fire Department Radio System which is online as of June 10, 2009.
Police Chief Jamie Whaley announced that he had attended the first Animal Control Dog Ordinance meeting and gave a brief update.
Mayor Normand announced that he would be fined $300.00 for his ethics violation of borrowing a generator during Hurricane Gustav. He does not intend to appeal since he reported himself for the violation.
Council Member Bourgeois announced that there would be an article about reflective house numbers in the upcoming newsletter.
Announcements:
The Town Hall will be closed on July 3, 2009.
Reception for Landmark Plaque recipients will be held on June 14th at 3:00 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 7:37 p.m.

_____________________ _________________________
Joey Normand, Mayor Debbie Berthelot, Town Clerk

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