Town Meeting Minutes – Monday, June 9, 2014

June 9, 2014

Town of Brusly
Brusly, Louisiana

The regular meeting of the Town of Brusly was held this date, June 9, 2014 at the Brusly Town Hall.

Council Member Bourgeois led the Pledge of Allegiance. A roll call determined the following officials present:

Mayor: Joey Normand
Council Members: Scot Rhodes, Joanne Bourgeois, Terry Richard, Shane André,
Don Neisler
Town Attorney: Thomas Acosta, Jr.
Absent: None

A motion to approve the minutes of the Town’s regular meeting of May 12, 2014, was made by Council Member André and seconded by Council Member Bourgeois. Mayor Normand opened the floor for public comment. Hearing no comments, the motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Public Works Committee:
Upon the recommendation of the Mayor, a motion to approve change order #1 and #2 of the Police Station Project in the amount of $600.00 and $38,000.00 was made by Council Member Rhodes; seconded by Council Member Richard. The Mayor opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed with a unanimous vote.

A motion to authorize Mayor Normand to sign a general services agreement with Owen & White was made by Council Member Neisler; seconded by Council Member Rhodes. Mayor Normand opened the floor for public comment. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.

Planning and Zoning Committee:
Mayor Normand read aloud a Variance Request for Non-Compliance – Sec. 19.6 Servitude Encroachment for Alcide Berthelot at 2403 Orleans Quarters Dr. to build a deck. The Variance having been favorably recommended by the Planning & Zoning Commission, a motion to approve was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Richard. Mayor Normand opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed unanimously.

Finance Committee: None

Personnel Committee: None
Recreation Committee: None

Police Committee:
Chief Johnson recommended the termination of School Resource Officer Harry G. Banta. Mayor Normand offered Mr. Banta the opportunity to request the issue be discussed in executive session. Mr. Banta stated his preference for the issue to be discussed in open session, at which time Chief Johnson read aloud the letter of release he had written to Officer Banta dated May 23, 2014, stating the reasons for his termination. Chief Johnson stated that Officer Banta was neither basic POST certified, nor firearms POST certified and could not be according to Louisiana POST Council requirements. Since there are no positions available at this time which do not require these certifications, Chief Johnson recommended termination.

Mr. Banta read a statement to the Council defending his employment record and qualifications. Mr. Banta distributed a letter from Addis Assistant Police Chief David Jones citing Banta’s firearms proficiency test scores and a letter from Brusly High School Principal Lemoine to Council Members, Mayor Normand and Attorney Acosta. if you need to buy guns, you can check out their website to know about their exciting offers!

After further discussion, with Council Members clarifying that their decision was based upon the requirements of POST Certification and not job performance, a motion to accept Chief Johnson’s recommendation to terminate Mr. Banta was made by Council Member Neisler; seconded by Council Member Richard. The Mayor opened the floor for public comment. After hearing questions from the public about availability of positions within the Police Department, Mayor Normand turned the matter over to the Council for consideration. A roll call vote was had with the following results:
Yeas: Richard, Bourgeois, Neisler, Rhodes
Nays: André
Absent: None

Chief Johnson gave a brief explanation of the Glock Swap Program, which he recommended for Council approval, as a means to declare duty weapons as “surplus.” The Chief recommended 17 Glocks listed by serial number, be declared surplus and swapped out in the program. Council Member Bourgeois asked that the serial numbers be attached to these minutes. A motion to declare the weapons listed as surplus was made by Council Member Bourgeois; seconded by Council Member Neisler. The Mayor opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments, the motion passed with a unanimous vote.

At the request of Mayor Normand, a motion to authorize the Mayor to sign an engagement letter with Baxley & Associates to audit the Police Department, was made by Council Member Rhodes; seconded by Council Member André. The Mayor opened the floor for public comments. Hearing no comments from the public, the Mayor turned it over to the Council for consideration. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Yeas: André, Bourgeois, Neisler, Rhodes, Richard
Nays: None
Absent: None

Governmental Affair Committee: None
Consideration of Vetoed Ordinances: None

Hearing and Final Action on Ordinances:
Mayor Normand read aloud Ordinance #4 of 2014, to make appropriations for the expenses of the Town of Brusly for 2014-2015 and to provide relative to the expenditure of said appropriations. After a brief discussion, Council Member Bourgeois moved to approve the Budget as presented with changes discussed; seconded by Council Member André. The Mayor opened the floor for public comment. Hearing no comments, the Mayor turned the motion over to the Council for consideration. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Yeas: Bourgeois, Neisler, Rhodes, Richard, André
Nays: None
Absent: None

Mayor Normand read aloud Ordinance #5 of 2014, to make appropriations for the expenses of the Town of Brusly Sewer System 2014-2015 and to provide relative to the expenditure of said appropriations. A motion to approve was made by Council Member Rhodes; seconded by Council Member Richard. The Mayor opened the floor for public comment. Hearing no comments from the public, the Mayor turned it over to the Council for consideration. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Yeas: Neisler, Rhodes, Richard, André, Bourgeois
Nays: None
Absent: None

Introduction of Ordinances:
Council Member Richard introduced Ordinance 6 of 2014 – Chapter 22 – Nuisance.

Resolutions and Commendations: None

Fire Department Report:
Fire Chief Alleman gave the Fire Chief’s report for May. There were nine (9) first aid calls inside the Town and twelve (12) outside of Town. There were no fires inside or outside of Town. There were two (2) alarm activations, two (2) cancelled calls and one (1) electrical equipment fire. There were three (3) motor vehicle crashes and one (1) mutual aid call. The total calls for the month were thirty-two (32). The total for the year is one hundred thirty-three (133).

Police Department Report:
Police Department Report for the month of May was given by Interim Police Chief Johnson. There were twelve (12) wrecks, six (6) bench warrant arrests, one (1) damage to property, four (4) disturbing the peace, six (6) alarms, three (3) juvenile matters, four (4) traffic arrests and twenty-two (22) miscellaneous calls. For the month’s total, there were 58 calls, 33 citations and 48 violations.

Correspondence:
The Town received a thank you note from WBR Foundation for Academic Excellence for sponsoring a team for the annual Golf Tournament.

Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Normand attended the monthly Chamber Meeting in which Tom Schedler, Louisiana Secretary of State, spoke about Louisiana being one of the top states in the country in regard to conducting elections.
Mayor Normand reported that the Town had received its first ever franchise fee from AT&T for U-verse.
The Mayor announced that the United States flags along the highway, inside Town limits, would be flying through the 4th of July. At the suggestion of a citizen, the Town will be acquiring Purple Heart flags to display along with the POW flags that are currently displayed. Mayor Normand announced that the historical marker had been installed at 166 N. LaBauve. Mayor Normand thanked Debbie Berthelot and the staff for their help with putting the 2014/2015 budget together.

Remarks of Personal Privilege:
Rosa Stelly expressed concerns about weapons missing from the Brusly Police Department. Council Member Bourgeois reported that new benches, made of recycled material, had been purchased and would soon be installed at Alexander Park. Bourgeois also reported that she attended the Memorial Day Ceremony at the WBR Court House and asked that a reminder for this ceremony be placed on the May meeting agenda each year. Council Member Neisler announced that the Town of Brusly would be hosting the Annual CRPC meeting on Monday, June 16th. Mayor Normand presented slides with governmental significance from his vacation trip to the Great Northwest.

Announcements:
The Town is hosting the CRPC Meeting on June 16th at 5:30 PM at the Lions Club.
The Town Hall will be closed July 4th.

A motion was made by Council Member André to adjourn; seconded by Council Member Rhodes. Hearing no comments, the motion passed with a unanimous vote. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 PM.

_____________________ _________________________
Joey Normand, Mayor Debbie Berthelot, Town Clerk